Family Rikkai
by Nyx Nox Night
Summary: An AU look at the Rikkai boys from Middle School through High School. Warnings: AU, eventually slash, magical powers, a few important OCs, some OOC-ness, also some dark themes most in the form of abuse, I don't think it's too bad but it deserves a warning
1. A Bit of Background

Hey All!

Sorry it's been so long, I won't make excuses. I have the next chapter almost finished, but before I put that up here is an interlude to help you understand my AU. Also, I'm editing and moving things a little bit, for example, this is now the first chapter. Welcome to my world:

Rikkai and Hyotei are elevator schools. People (mostly rich) start in preschool. Where at Hyotei they have completely different campuses for each school Rikkai doesn't. Rikkai has one HUGE campus with four main buildings.

Building 1 is preschool and administration.

Building 2 is Grades 1-6

Building 3 is Junior High (7-9)

Building 4 is High School (10-12)

Each grade is split into three classes. In Building 2 it is purely by chance. Once they hit Junior High they are separated by how the test and behavior. A class is the best of the best (the troika are there), B class is middle performers (Yagyuu and Jackal are there, though in 8th grade Sanada and Yagyuu switch classes, and from then on switch every year), C class is the lower level students as well as the problem children (Marui and Niou are there).

Within the students each class has a leader, the only ones the students listen to. Yukimura in A class, an unimportant OC in B class and Marui and Niou in C class. But, when Rin showed up in 5th Grade she began a slow takeover of all the girls, by the time she is a first year all of the Junior High girls listen to her, and are terrified of her, and by the time she's in High School all the girls listen to her.

At Hyotei Atobe took over the entire Junior High, Oshitari as his second, even though both are new transfers. So their class break down doesn't matter.

Also, how the school year works: There are two main breaks, July and January. They level up to the next grade at the end of June. The tennis tournaments will be held from the end of March until the end of May. I'm taking a creative license with the school year and also basing it, slightly, on what my students do (I'm in Korea, not Japan, though, and I tweaked it a little bit, so yes, probably very wrong.

This will help with the rest of the fic, up soon!


	2. Meeting the Parents

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hey all, this is just to see if anyone would be interested in reading my story. It is eventually going to cross BtVS (very small cross) and HP with PoT, but the crossover bits are a long ways off. I a good deal of this written out in a notebook so if there is interest I will continue posting, though I can't guarantee frequent or regular updates. Drop me a review if you would be interested in reading more, the story will follow the boys through High School. The focus will also be on the boys, there will be tennis, and some supernatural bits, but I'm trying to focus on the boys themselves mostly.

Warnings: AU, there will be magic and psychics! There will eventually be slash. OOC-ness is expected as it is AU. Minor Seigaku bashing (Tezuka in particular, but I have reasons all worked out.)

Kirihara Akaya had known for all six years of his life that his mother hated him. She told him repeatedly that his father hated him so much he had left the two of them and so she couldn't love him until he was not so horrible. In spite of this he always did what she asked, or would attempt it if he couldn't actually do what she asked. However, nothing he did could make her even look at him, unless he was bad, than she would hit, scream and curse at him. So little Akaya was learning how to keep quiet, and not try so hard to make her love him any more. He would keep his head down and do as she said without saying a word. When he did talk he had already learned the hard way that Japanese was unacceptable when speaking to his mother, he had to speak un-accented English or she would fly into a rage and he would be locked in the 'basement' of their small apartment. As a result, his Japanese vocabulary suffered while he had an impressive English vocabulary for one so young. And so his life went, until he was six and his life changed and our story begins. Akaya was in his room playing with a troop of broken action figures he had found in a garbage bin when he heard his mother calling him. Hurriedly he put away his toys and shoved them in a box under his bed where he stored all his precious things and ran downstairs.

"Yes, Mama?" He asked as he had been taught to, staying a little inside the doorway. He quickly dodged the vase she threw at him more out of habit than reaction.

"You've been a bad boy, Akaya." The woman informed him, taking a pull from her bottle then a longer drag from the cigarette in her other hand. "You broke the vase my big brother gave me, clumsy child." She pointed with the cigarette at the remains of the vase she had thrown at him. "And I heard you speaking tongues in your room. You are the Devil Incarnate. I must purify you."

"Yes, Mama." He replied quietly, slowly getting used to these accusations. His green eyes widened as she stood, grabbed his arm tightly and, with him wincing, dragged him towards what she called the basement of their home. "Please, Mama, I'll be better. Don't make me go there."

The basement was actually a small room at the bottom of the stairs with no windows or light aside from a spotlight illuminating a crucifix in great detail on the wall, and the small amount of light that came through the crack under the door. The crucifix terrified Akaya more than the dark did. His mother ignored him and threw him through to door, into a wall, with such force he hears a crack and a sharp pain coursed from his shoulder. Disregarding his pained cries she forced his shirt off over his head and pushed him to face the wall. Then she began bringing her belt down on his bare back. Though she was very drunk she was able to get some force in her arm and break the skin in a few places. Akaya was crying and pleading for his mother to stop, screamed as the whip caught his right shoulder.

"I'm sorry Akaya, but we must force the demons to leave you or I can never love you. How could I love such an awful child?" Words of hatred rained down as hard as the blows, each English word striking him painfully. Suddenly the words stopped as his mother made a surprised noise, immediately after the blows stopped as well. Sounds of flesh hitting flesh came to Akaya's ears as he remained cowering in the corner, trying to protect his shoulder.

"You stupid woman! How dare you lay a hand on any child, let alone your own!" Smooth Japanese soothed Akaya's ears as a strange woman's voice cursed his mother. "Luckily I'm prepared for everything. Sign this, and this, now copy this into your own handwriting." A soft male voice chuckled, as Akaya didn't move, frozen in the spot he had been left, wondering what was going on behind him, but too terrified to look. "Stop laughing Aniki, I like to be prepared for everything."

"Whatever you say, Imouto." An even male voice said calmly. "Since you have this well in hand I'll check on the boy."

"Aa, be careful of his shoulder, his collarbone is broken." The female ordered.

The male chuckled again. "I'll heal him before I even touch him, I do remember how to do this, Ana."

Akaya was surprised at the cool gentle touch on his back. The pain that he was feeling disappeared as the touch moved over his entire body. Soon a smaller hand joined it, smoothing his hair and forehead. "Sleep my dear one, when you wake you'll be safe and far from here." Arms gathered him up and lifted his small form easily. Akaya looked up to see yellow-green eyes and a pale pixie-like face framed by golden brown strands smiling gently down on him. A second, more masculine, face was behind hers, also smiling slightly. Akaya smiled back sleepily, showing his teeth, causing the man to blink in surprise and the woman to gasp. Akaya realized his mistake, his canine teeth were unnaturally pointed, giving the affect of fangs, and because of this he usually tried to hide his teeth. However, this time, instead of curses and yelling, the woman, (angel?), holding him, cuddled him closer before he could even think of struggling.

"Aw! Kuni! He's got little baby fangs. Kawaii!" She cooed at him and smiled widely, showing off her own sharp fangs and locking eyes with the little boy. The last thing Akaya heard was her soft voice telling him to sleep again.

When Akaya awake he did not know where he was, and had forgotten the previous night. He was in a soft, warm bed, with a pile of comforters around him. Blinking his eyes he saw a big room with stuffed animals in the corners, two other made beds, and full length mirror. He got up and wandered over to the mirror as his memories of the previous night came back to him. Staring at his reflection he was surprised to see his dark green curls had been brushed and washed, in fact he noticed he felt clean all over. The constant pain he usually felt was gone and he had been dressed in soft black pajamas. He frowned at his reflection, unsure what was going on. He knew two people had taken him from his mother, but he was a little scared that they would see what his mother had, and what had caused his father to leave, and get rid of him. He was only six; he didn't have anywhere to go. As these worries filled him, his eyes started filling with tears.

"Masa, it looks like he's up." The whispered voice startled Akaya from his thoughts.

"People don't normally sleep standing in front of a mirror, Bun, obviously he's awake." A second voice drawled.

Akaya whirled around wide eyed and began backing into a corner as he saw two other boys in the room with him.

"I'm Marui Bunta, I'm seven." Chirruped one boy, the first voice, with bright red/pink hair that shocked Akaya and amethyst eyes off set by his deep blue pajamas.

"Niou Masaharu, also seven." The second boy nodded his silver-haired head in greeting, bright teal eyes sparkling mischievously as he slouched in dark purple pajamas. "We're your new big brothers. Ana and Kuni picked us up after a fire killed our apartments a couple years ago and no one in our families wanted to take us in. They like to pick up strays, ne Bun?"

"Aa."

As the two boys spoke they advanced on the retreating Akaya. Akaya's eyes were wide and fearful as he backed up into a corner. Both the boys were bigger than him and he was scared at what they might do. The bigger boys at school always bullied him and these two looked scarier with their strange hair.

"Masaharu, Bunta, leave your new brother alone. Can't you see you're terrifying him?" A smooth baritone interrupted calmly. Akaya recognized the voice as the man from before.

The two boys finally noticed Akaya's fearful face and stopped approaching. "Why is he so scared, Kuni?" Bunta asked.

"His mother thought he was a demon because he has chibi-fangs. There's strong Vampire blood in him, and it called to my imouto and I as full vampires." Kuni explained, sitting on the floor to be eye-level with the boys. Masaharu and Bunta immediately climbed into his lap. Calm golden eyes stared at Akaya. "How are you feeling, Akaya?"

"Who are you?" The small boy whispered.

"Ah, gomen, I am Kunimitsu; you may call me Kuni or Otou-san if you wish. We adopted you after your mother tried to commit suicide."

"Kunimitsu!" An enraged woman's voice yelled from the doorway, Akaya jumped slightly at the sudden noise before recognizing the woman from the night before. "Don't say things like that to him!"

She was a short woman, and the resemblance to her brother was striking, but Akaya did not care about that. The moment he recognized her he scurried over to her and hid behind her, holding onto her leg tightly. She laughed, glancing down at him, before picking him up gently and carrying him over to the others.

"It's ok, Akaya, we're a family now. I'm Ana, Kunimitsu, my elder brother, healed you when we adopted you two days ago. The healing took a lot out of you so you've been asleep the entire time. We got Masaharu and Bunta a few years ago, as they've no doubt told you, and they'll be your older brothers. They'll protect you if Kuni and I aren't around. No one here will ever intentionally hurt you. You're safe here." Ana's soothing Japanese calmed Akaya down and he settled down a little into her lap.

"No more basement or scary cross guy?" Akaya whispered cautiously. "No more yelling or hitting or English?"

"I promise." Ana said.

"Except he'll have to take English in school." Kuni pointed out.

"Hush, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ana scolded.

"And you won't leave me?" Akaya's green eyes were wide and fearful; this was what he feared the most. "You won't leave me like papa did because of me teeth."

Ana laughed, showing him her fangs again, "I'll never leave you alone unless it's against my will. Even then, I'll always find my way back to you, all of you."

"We'll always be here too, Aka-chan." Bunta promised, Akaya looked at him in surprised.

"Yeah, bratling, you're stuck with us forever, even if it's just so Bunta won't be the youngest anymore." Masaharu added, elbowing Bunta.

"Really?" Akaya asked.

The two older boys left Kunimitsu's lap and crowded around Akaya, this time he didn't look afraid, just confused and hopeful. They cuddled up against him, "You're our brother now, you don't have to be alone anymore."

Ana smiled at the boys in her lap, though only Akaya was fully in her lap, happy that the older boys accepted so Akaya so quickly as their brother. When Kunimitsu remained silent she frowned at him. He didn't notice as he was frowning slightly at the three boys, his eyes deep in thought. Ana shook her head slightly; she and her brother had spent over a thousand years together and that look never meant well. She promised herself she would keep an eye on her brother in case he tried anything that would hurt her new children. For the next five years things went along peacefully, though, and Ana began to believe she had imagined things. Their family was a little odd, as she and Kunimitsu were siblings rather than spouses, but it worked from them. Though the boys did call Ana "'Tou-san" and Kunimitsu "'Kaa-san" because those were the roles they tended to fill regardless of their gender. She and Kunimitsu got the boys into tennis and it became a family activity and a less violent outlet for the sibling rivalry between the boys. The boys were slowly getting over their traumatic experiences, the fire for Bunta and Masaharu, the abuse for Akaya, and the older two became more outgoing, though outside of a pair of twins they remained aloof from other students in their class. However, the week before Masaharu and Bunta entered Middle School everything changed. On that morning Ana woke up alone in the room she shared with her brother, a note was left on her night stand. She frowned as she open it.

_Ana-  
I know this is sudden but I have decided to go back to school again. I'm living with the Tezuka family and will be joining Seishun Gakuen. I'll join the tennis team so tell the boys I'm sorry and I'll see them on the courts. I just couldn't stay. Also, I used some of the de-aging potion you made last week so I would be the correct age. _

_-Kunimitsu  
_Ana bit back a bitter laugh; this was what she had been worried about. It was just like her brother. With Masaharu acting out, Bunta either helping or being the target, and little Akaya just starting to become secure enough to talk back, he leaves. As always she was going to have to clean up and smooth over this mess. With a sigh she went into the boys' shared room down the hall.


	3. Finding the Team

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hey All. Thank you to those of you who reviewed, please keep reviewing so I will keep being motivated to post if you enjoy this story! Thank you for reading!

"Masa-chan, Usagi-chan, Aka-chan." She called softly, using their nicknames from when they first came to live with her.

"Don't call me that, 'Tou-san." Bunta protested half-heartedly, not really awake.

Ana sat on the edge of Akaya's bed and Akaya immediately climbed into her lap, Bunta and Masaharu got onto the bed on either side of her and she put her arms around them. "I have distressing news, my dear ones. My baka-aniki decided to go back to school, starting in Middle School. He left for Seishun Gakuen early this morning. He'll be joining the tennis team so he apologizes but says you'll meet him again on the courts."

Masaharu's face darkened in anger, teal eyes turning almost black. "That bastard!"

"Masaharu!" Ana scolded, "You're too young for that language."

"He abandoned us, I'll never forgive him." Masaharu vowed, ignoring Ana's scolding.

"Yeah, he's not my 'Kaa-san anymore. We'll meet him on the court, and we'll beat him!" Bunta said, standing up and locking eyes with Masaharu as his eyes darkened as well. Masaharu stood as well and they grasped hands.

Akaya didn't say anything; he just clung to Ana, tears rolling down his face.

"It's alright darlings. I'm still here and I will not leave you as long as you live." Ana promised, rocking her youngest. "My brother is a free spirit, Aka-chan; this is not your fault. He has often run when responsibilities became too much. I feared this would happen so I set up a punishment in my own way."

Masaharu and Bunta turned to see their baby brother's distress, realizing that the five years weren't enough to soothe the younger boy's fear of abandonment. They climbed up on either side of Ana and cuddled into her sides to hug the smaller boy.

"Kuni's an idiot, Aka-chan, we don't need him." Bunta whispered.

"Yeah, and he's going to Seigaku. Rikkaidai is a lot better; we'll crush him, and his team." Masaharu added darkly.

"We're better off without him, now we get 'Tou-san to ourselves." Bunta added, much to Ana's amusement.

"She won't have to take care of Kuni anymore so she can focus more on us." Masaharu warmed up to the idea.

As Ana listened, the two older boys convinced Akaya of a few things. First, that her brother was an idiot and they were better off without him there to mess up things. Second, they would get their revenge. Third, that neither she nor either of the boys would ever pull the same stunt that Kuni had. And the final thing, and most amusing in her eyes, that Kuni took up more of Ana's attention then strictly necessary. That he had needed to be looked after just as much as the boys did, which was not true seeing as Kuni was an independent adult vampire over a thousand years older than them and more then capable of looking after himself. Kuni also, according to the boys, was a lazy person who had made them do all the work around the house while Ana was gone and now that he no longer was there his tyrannical rule had ended and life would be better. Ana wondered where they got these ideas from, and then was slightly worried as Akaya seemed to believe most of them. Her youngest was far too gullible with anything his brothers told him.

Over the next week their small family clung together. Ana doing more to reassure the boys she would never leave while Masaharu and Bunta continued their outrageous stories when they thought she wasn't listening. So the two older boys were able to start Rikkai with no problems. They joined the tennis club, though remained apart from the rest of the players as they kept to themselves during the club time playing each other, or as a doubles team. In class they kept to their friends, the twins, though they began interacting with their own class, 1-C, more, eventually becoming the boys' leaders. Neither boy really noticed that the girls were distant, they always had been, and both boys already knew they weren't interested in girls. Within tennis club, though, Bunta began being partnered with a half-Brazilian boy named Kuwahara Jackal, and because of this Jackal became friends with the two brothers as well, though they kept secret their sibling relationship. As their skill became clearer they came to the attention of the three best First Year tennis players, Yanagi Renji, Sanada Genichirou and Yukimura Seiichi. Yanagi was the first to approach Masaharu, two months into school.

"Niou Masaharu, correct?"

Masaharu looked over from where he lay on the roof during the lunch break, waiting for his brother, to see the brunette with half closed eyes. "Aa?"

"Yanagi Renji, class 1-A, would you like to play doubles with me? I think we would play well together."

"I know who you are, Yanagi Renji of class 1-A, you're a data collector. You should know that I don't play well with others." Masaharu drawled as he propped himself up slightly to look at the standing boy better.

"Except Marui Bunta." Yanagi countered. "You get along with him."

"I'm a singles player, Yanagi-san, and so are you, regardless of your past. 'Sides, how do you figure our play styles mix?"

"Play a match with me, us against Marui-san and Kuwahara-san. If we win, you'll be my partner until one of us finds a new partner. If we lose, I'll leave you alone."

Masaharu's eyes narrowed. "And I suppose that if we win I will pass the test and find myself allied with the 1-A leaders?"

Yanagi didn't reply at first, but his eyes opened revealing an odd golden color. "Our only aim is Nationals; we will only accept the best."

"Total domination, huh?" Masaharu lay back down again. "We'll see on the courts this afternoon then."

Yanagi nodded and left Masaharu alone as Bunta finally arrived.

"What did Yanagi-san want?" He asked, handing Masaharu a drink.

"To play doubles with me against you and Jackal to test us to see if we're good enough to help win Nationals." Masaharu propped himself up again as he dug into the food Bunta brought. "Looks like we caught the attention of the 1-A leaders with our skills."

"Of course, I'm a genius aren't I?" Bunta grinned wildly. "Let's make this more interesting between the two of us."

"A bet, Bunta? Alright, if Yanagi-san and I win you have to…" Masaharu trailed off as his teal eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "If we win you have to give Jackal a kiss right there in front of everyone."

"What!" Bunta cried, "Why?"

"Because it would embarrass both of you even more in addition losing against a doubles pair who doesn't know the first thing about each other." Masaharu grinned wickedly. "If you're too chicken to take the bet you can always just say so."

"Alright, but if you lose you have to kiss Yanagi-san." Bunta caved. He hated being called a coward above all else, as Masaharu well knew.

Masaharu held out his hand. "Deal, ototou-chan."

"Don't call me that, just because you're a few months older than me!" Bunta complained, shaking the offered hand.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly and soon the brother found themselves on opposite sides of the net. Sanada sat in the umpire's chair while Yukimura watched, coolly leaning against the fence, his expression unreadable. Behind the fences the 1-C friends of Bunta and Masaharu, twins, Saitou Shin and Hajime, watched excitedly. The brothers told the twins the bet to ensure that neither would chicken out, though they knew they didn't need to worry about Masaharu who, the previous year, informed the entire class he was gay so the few girls who were already bothering him needed to stop. The match was fairly one sided, to Masaharu's surprise, as he and Yanagi won 6-3. Though he and Yanagi didn't know each other personally, both were very observant, as Yanagi was a data player and Masaharu was an analytical player, they relied on knowing everything about everyone to get their way in situations. As a result they played well off of each other. Masaharu grinned wickedly at Bunta.

"So I won, huh Bun-chan?" He drawled, his eyes dancing mischievously at the pink haired boy.

Bunta blushed bright red as he remembered the bet. The adrenaline rush the game had given him caused him to temporarily forget about the kiss. The twins cat-called from their position, while the 1-A boys looked confused, even Yanagi. With a glare at his silver-haired brother, Bunta turned to his confused doubles partner and pulled his head to down kiss him lightly on the mouth. Masaharu's grin twisted into a smirk as he caught it on his camera he pulled from somewhere. Bunta heard the click and chased after the taller boy. So Renji became Masaharu's doubles partner, and Genichirou and Seiichi became their friends. By late November they had a tentative plan for taking over the tennis team, though they all felt like something was missing. The last week of November Masaharu surprised them all.


	4. Meeting Ana

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Here's the next chapter, I'm not sure if I ever formally stated a disclaimer so here it is: I own nothing, except my OC's, Ana, and the Saitou twins, there are a few more but you haven't met them yet. Anyway enjoy the next chapter. As things wind down towards my graduation updates might be a little less frequent than they already are, sorry in advance. Also, please review the story, even if it is to tell me you hate it, I just want to hear that people are reading it. I'm posting it for you guys, I thought you might enjoy it, so let me know if you do. I'll stop rambling now, enjoy the story.

* * *

They were changing after tennis practice when he suddenly paused and turned to look at them. "My birthday is on the fourth. 'Tou-san said I could invite you over for a sleepover this weekend to celebrate it, if you can."

Everyone stared at Masaharu, neither he, Bunta, nor Genichirou had ever invited them over. After practices they would end up at Renji, Seiichi or Jackal's house to study together. Masaharu shifted uncomfortably and locked eyes with Bunta, confusion hidden in the purple depths. His own blue eyes held a hidden plea for this to work under the discomfort. Both boys had connected with the other four on some deeper level than normal, Bunta nodded slightly, understanding that this was the time and event that could make or break their team.

"Sounds like fun." Jackal spoke first, smiling.

"I'm free this weekend." Seiichi added, "Would it be from today until Sunday, or just Saturday and Sunday?"

"Either works, 'Tou-san doesn't mind." Masaharu shrugged.

"I have no plans either." Genichirou said, nodding.

Renji didn't say anything. When Seiichi turned to question him on his silence he saw Renji's golden eyes were wide with shock. He smirked. Jackal turned as well and started snickering as Genichirou tried to hide his smile.

"I think you broke him, Masa." Bunta teased, smirking.

"Ne, Renji, what was the probability of me inviting all of you over?" Masaharu asked, flicking the other boy's ear to try to break his shocked trance.

Renji blinked, his eyes sliding half closed once again. "There was currently only a 10% chance of all of us getting an invitation. A 75% chance of Jackal alone, and a 70% chance of just me. Genichirou had a 40% chance and Seiichi a 50% chance. And yes, I am free all weekend and will be able to attend."

Seiichi pouted. "Why did you and Jackal have the best chances, while Genichirou and I had such small chances?"

"We are their doubles partners. They are so close that it makes Jackal and I equally close to both of them. Though they met Jackal first so he has a better chance than I." Renji shrugged.

"Oh yeah, about that. Jackal has already been over Masa and my houses." Bunta slanted a glance at Masaharu before corrected himself. "Masa and my house."

Everyone stared at the two boys in shock. Masaharu sighed. "Come on, you guys can just come over now and meet 'Tou-san. You can call from the house so your parents can bring you stuff to sleepover and so they know where you are." He said irritably as he turned to walk he grabbed Renji's wrist and began dragging him.

"Ah, Genichirou, Renji, do you remember that Seigaku player I was telling you about, Tezuka-san?" Seiichi asked as they walked, he paused until the two boys he was talking to nodded. "I heard he has been having problems with the upperclassman because they found out he plays them with a handicap and he still wins."

"Itai!" Renji exclaimed, trying to get his wrist back from Masaharu. "Masaharu, you're hurting me."

"Don't talk about him around us, we have personal problems with him." Bunta explained as Masaharu released his doubles partner.

"Sorry about that," Masaharu muttered, not looking very sorry, as he turned towards a house. "Yo, bratling, forget your-oh. Bunta it's your turn."

The group turned to see a younger, fuming, boy seated outside the house.

"Aka-chan," Bunta sighed, spotting the black eye, split lip and bruised cheek the younger boy was sporting. "Stop picking fights or matches without 'Tou-san or Masa."

Green eyes glared. "I didn't pick the fight. Matsui-sensei left the room and Aoi and his goons took offense to my privilege."

"And they got hits in?" Bunta asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I was sleeping. I always sleep in that class so I don't have to hear." In the blink of an eye he went from pouting and defensive to mischievous and excited as he noticed Jackal, not seeing the other boys. "Ne, Bunta, play me with Jackal."

Masaharu reached out and cuffed him gently. "Yo, bratling, don't you wanna meet the rest of our friends, who you are rudely ignoring?" He teased causing the younger boy to blush. "Yanagi Renji is my current doubles partner, our fearless leader, the 1st year tensai Yukimura Seiichi, and his second, a power player, Sanada Genichirou. Guys this is Kirihara Akaya. 'Tou-san adopted him too, about a year after me and Bunta."

Akaya stared at the newcomers, green eyes studying them intently. His eyes stopped on Renji, focusing on him completely before grinning madly. "Nice to meet you all. Come on Jackal-senpai, Bunta, let's go play." He grabbed their arms before they could react and dragged them behind the house.

Masaharu snickered as he led the other three inside. "They'll be done in about half an hour. Come in, 'Tou-san will be home soon."

"Half an hour?" Seiichi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Aka-chan's really good, so Bun and Jackal actually have to work a little to beat him." Masaharu explained as he led them into the living room.

"Tadaima!" Ana's voice called from the doorway. "If I'm adopting again I'll need to find that new house earlier than I'd thought."

"Okaeri! And don't worry, it's just the rest of our teammates come to meet you and Aka-chan." A wicked grin lit up Masaharu's face as he called back. "Aoi-kun and his friends beat up Aka while he was sleeping. Black eye, split lip, and bruised cheek. He was sulking out front when we got home."

"His mother and I will be having words." Ana said, entering the living room. "Are you going to introduce us, Masa?"

"Aa, 'Tou-san, these are our friends, Yanagi Renji is my doubles partner, and that's Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou, they are aiming for buchou and fukubuchou." Masaharu pointed from where he lay on the couch. Seiichi and Genichirou stood and bowed, but Masaharu was using Renji's lap as a pillow preventing him from doing the same. "Guys this is Ana, she's the best parent ever. And stop giving me weird looks about calling her 'Tou-san, we started calling her that when we were little."

Ana laughed, "Nice to meet you all finally. You can call me Ana or 'Tou-san like the other boys." She tossed Masaharu a wrapped box. "This came for you from your uncle."

Masaharu sat up to catch the box and tore into it excitedly. He laughed when he saw the two video games in it. "Do you guys wanna play Soul Caliber IV or Wii Tennis?"


	5. Completing the Team

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hello all, just wanted to give a few warnings, there is drama in this chapter, I'm breaking it up into two posts as per some advice from my friends. If you are interested in the story reviews will make me post faster, I have a lot written by hand but I need some encouragement to type and post it up quickly. Thank you to those who have me on story alert, but a review is most welcome as well, even if it is just a smiley or frowny face :) Alright, I'll stop talking, enjoy the chapter.

New Years came up quickly and Ana was preparing the house happily for her children. Over the past month the Rikkai tennis First Years had been over constantly, either practicing on the courts out back, playing video games or studying in the kitchen with Ana helping when they got stuck. They were also very good about including Akaya in where they good which Ana was grateful for, for her own reasons she wasn't ready to share with the boys yet. Soon, but not everyone was gathered. She sighed to herself at the thought; they were almost ready to know. As it was, she had to finish preparing the house before the boys returned; they had taken Akaya with them to the New Year's Festival so she could get a small party ready for the boys. She heard the door opening as she hummed to herself and felt the familiar sense of her twin.

"You shouldn't be here, Kuni. The boys hate you right now and they don't know they are Gifted yet." Ana called.

"Aa, I just wanted to give you my New Year wishes and solstice presents for the boys a little late." Kunimitsu called back. "Just because you're mad at me is no reason to have made me mortal, Ana."

"Hopefully this will finally teach you some responsibility, Kuni." Ana snapped turning to face him as he entered the room and glaring at him. "Really, little brother, you're over a thousand years old, the second son of a Noble and Ancient House, you should understand responsibility by now. Father should never have let Mother coddle you so much. However, since you don't, now you will learn, I hope this will teach you. Responsibility like how not to run out on your family when the going gets a little tough and therefore making things worse, you have the worst timing." She shook her head with sigh as she sensed the children returning. "They're coming back, get out Kuni, I've only just got Akaya stable again."

"Is this permanent?"

"No, now leave."

He disappeared out the back door as the front door opened and seven voices called out "Tadaima."

"Okaeri! Come into the kitchen, dinner is almost done! I hope you didn't let the festival spoil your appetites."Ana returned.

"Hey, presents!" Akaya yelled excitedly.

"They are late solstice presents from your 'Kaa-san, it's up to you if you want them." Ana explained. "But dinner first, we're waiting for one more person and then we'll eat." She smiled her seven flushed boys stumbled into the kitchen and began fighting over seating at the table. "We have new neighbors and they have a son your age that also plays tennis and will be starting at Rikkai, his name is Yagyuu Hiroshi."

"Aa, new transfer to Rikkai, Yagyuu Hiroshi, age 12, 1st Year, strategy power player, would do well in doubles with Masaharu-kun, class 1-B, blood type A, likes reading, dislikes wasting time, almost never loses his cool, is the perfect Gentleman to authority, however underneath that he can be a lot like Masaharu-kun." Renji recited.

"You're scary, Yanagi-senpai," Akaya muttered, glancing at the closed-eyed brunette who was sitting next to him.

Renji glanced down at the younger boy and grinned slightly, "Aa."

"Now we can finally challenge the Regulars." Masaharu said with a wicked smirk. "If he is as good a fit for me as you say, anyway."

"Yes!" Bunta cheered.

Masaharu stood suddenly and sing-songed "I'll get the door." He sauntered off back to the front door.

"I didn't hear a knock." Jackal said, confused.

"Masa always knows when there is someone at the door. He hears them come up or something." Bunta explained with a shrug.

Masaharu practically bounced back into the room, though not quite because he never bounced, another boy trailing behind him. He had light brown hair and glasses which seemed to perfectly reflect the light so no one could see his eyes. He stood up straight, his posture perfect, and carried with him a wrapped gift and a bouquet of flowers. Standing next to the slouching, silver haired Masaharu he looked like a perfect Gentleman, however the boys were a little surprised to see the similarities between the two. If Masaharu would stop slouching they were the same height, they had similar builds and faces, it was a little scary. Seiichi grinned at the resemblance seeing that Masaharu had seen it too.

"Who are the flowers for?" Akaya demanded.

"Aka! Be polite," Ana scolded. "Welcome Yagyuu-san. You've already met Niou Masaharu, my other sons are Marui Bunta and Kirihara Akaya, I've adopted all of them but let them keep their original family names. And these boys are other Rikkai Dai First Year Tennis players, Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou and Yanagi Renji, and Bunta's doubles partner Kuwahara Jackal. I'm Ana; you may call me that 'Kaa-san or 'Tou-san like the rest of the boys."

"Nice to meet you, Ana-san." Yagyuu said, bowing politely. "This is to thank you for inviting me over."

"Thank you," Ana accepted the proffered box and flowers. "Alright, Masa, Bun please finish setting the table, Gen, Ren, help me get the food onto the table, Aka, Kal, Sei, show Yagyuu-san around while we get everything ready."

"Hai, 'Tou-san," Akaya, Masaharu and Bunta chorused while Jackal said "Hai, 'Kaa-san" and Renji, Seiichi and Genichirou said "Hai, Ana."

The house dissolved into organized chaos as everyone went about their jobs. Akaya grabbed Yagyuu's arm and excitedly dragged him around the house. Jackal followed trying to get Akaya to release Yagyuu's arm and calm down, while Seiichi just grinned. Yagyuu was expression-less as he politely nodded to Akaya's narrative and replied when he had to. They only had time to show Yagyuu around the first floor before Ana called them back because everything was set for dinner. There was another scramble for places at the table as Ana watched with an amused smile, thankful again that she had decided to get a large round table. However Ana stopped them before they attacked the food.

"Hold it, boys, before you eat I have an announcement." She waited until they were all looking at her. "I spoke with all of your parents and you are all allowed to spend the night tonight. So, after dinner, please wait at least half an hour before you hit the courts, and don't forget Aka-chan again. Alright?" They all nodded. "Ok, now you can dig in."

"You spoke with my parents?" Yagyuu asked, surprised.

"Aa, they agreed that it's good for you to get to know your peers." Ana smiled at him, "And you are always welcome here for as long as you want, as often as you want. It doesn't matter if the boys are home or not, our door is always open for you."

Yagyuu nodded politely, his glasses hiding his eyes from revealing what he might have thought about the invitation. Masaharu watched the interaction with a knowing smirk as he noticed a few small ticks that gave away Yagyuu's surprise. Akaya looked around the table, silent for once, watching everyone. In just five years everything had changed for him. He did not know what happened to his mother, he didn't really care if he was honest with himself, but he no longer feared that she would try to take him back. Now he had a steady parental presence in Ana, though he was still shaken by Kunimitsu's abandonment at the beginning of the school year. However he knew that Ana would never leave, nor would she let him get hurt again if she could prevent it. He also had Masaharu and Bunta to protect him if he needed it, though they teased him mercilessly they also made sure he knew that they just did it because they were brothers and they were there if he needed them, like when he had nightmares or bullies picked on him before he learned how to fight back. Now Jackal also took care of him and was teaching him the strength of will, Seiichi spoiled him completely, Genichirou was his role model and mentor while Renji tutored him and, if Akaya was going to be completely honest again, he was completely infatuated with the strategist. Now with Yagyuu sitting at the table with them his family felt complete, and he was excited to see what this new member would add. It was as if Yagyuu was filling a gap no one had known was there and almost completed their group. A smile stole across Akaya's face, a rare true smile. He was so lost in thought he didn't notice he was smiling, nor that it caused his fangs to poke over his lip. Renji watched entranced as Akaya's face lit up with the smile. The fangs threw him a little, but on Akaya they fit and made him look even cuter. Bunta noticed the smile and nudged Masaharu with his foot. Masaharu saw and grinned.

"You feel it too, Aka-chan?" Masaharu asked softly.

"Aa." Akaya nodded, green eyes locking with knowing teal eyes.

Jackal leaned down to whisper quietly in Bunta's ear so that the still sensitive Akaya wouldn't hear. "Why does Aka-chan have fangs?"

Akaya's eyes went wide as he overheard the remark, and he slapped a hand over his mouth to hide the fangs. He had forgotten that the other boys did not know about his fangs because he had kept them hidden out of fear. Now his secret was out. His already pale skin paled even further and he bolted from the table.

Bunta smacked Jackal's head. "You know he has amazing hearing, Jackal, and you know how sensitive he is! That was immensely stupid."

"Calm down boys." Ana scolded calmly. "Masa, Usagi will you go get your brother please?"

"Don't call me that!" Bunta complained as he and Masaharu got up and ran upstairs.

Seiichi frowned, worried, "What's wrong? Why did Aka run?" He had been deep in conversation with Renji and Genichirou and had missed the byplay.

"When Akaya smiled he had fangs, and I just asked Bunta why he had them, and I thought I was quiet enough." Jackal stuttered, looking miserable. "I forgot just how good his hearing is."

"It's not your fault, Jackal; I was planning on making him tell you all tonight." Ana soothed, going to him and hugging him while rubbing his back.


	6. Becoming a Team

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hey all, sorry about the delay! I just graduated college and am on my way off to Korea to teach. I got a little caught up and almost forgot to update, luckily my friend kluv reminded me, so everyone thank her! I made this chapter a little longer, I know they've been short. I'm approaching the end of what I have written out, but as I intend to keep writing I hope to stay ahead of my posting. Alright, enough from me, enjoy the story!

Reviews will help my memory of posting! I know people like this because of the story alerts, please drop a review as well, I'm guilty of altering without reviewing so this is hypocritical of me, but I'm trying to get better about that now that I know how annoying it is! I love reviews! They feed my non-existent soul.

"It's not your fault, Jackal; I was planning on making him tell you all tonight." Ana soothed, going to him and hugging him while rubbing his back. "Aka-chan is part vampire, that's why he has the fangs. His birth mother thought he was possessed and tried to beat the demon out of him and curse him in English. She also blamed him for her husband leaving. She was beating him when Kuni and I found him, his spilled blood called to our own vampire blood. We found them, healed him and adopted him, forcing her to sign to papers. He has come a long way from the boy we found, but his fangs are still a sore point. He's worried that if people know about them they'll react like his birth mother did. He also cannot hear English without having a flashback; he's completely suppressed all knowledge of the language. I talk to the English teachers and they allow him to sleep through class." Ana sighed as she looked at the worried faces of the boys around her. "I had been planning on telling you all tonight, just not like this."

"Can we go check on Aka, 'Kaa-san?" Jackal asked, looking up at her, his face serious. "I want to apologize."

"Of course, he's probably in his room. And you have nothing to apologize for, just assure him that you don't care and you love him anyway." Ana smiled at the half-Brazilian boy.

Genichirou and Seiichi followed Jackal upstairs as Renji and Yagyuu stayed to help Ana clear the table.

"Pardon my prying, but what aren't you telling us, Ana-san?" Yagyuu asked, his glasses glinting dangerously in the low light.

"Aa, I had noticed that too. Why is it so important that we are together, Ana?" Renji added, closed eyes giving nothing away.

Ana smiled brightly at the two geniuses, "You two don't miss a trick, nor do any of the other boys, as I know Seiichi and Genichirou elected you to speak for you three, Renji."

"You are avoiding the question." Yagyuu pointed out.

"I will tell you all everything, when you are all together, after this game plays out." Ana grinned at the dangerous duo in front of her, her fangs glinted in the light. "I can take things from here, why don't you two go check on Aka as well."

Renji sighed in defeat, "Hai Ana, come on, Yagyuu-san, I'll show you upstairs."

"Call me Hiroshi." Was the only response as the two boys left the room.

"Iie, gomen, but don't give me permission before Masaharu." Renji replied calmly.

"I don't understand."

"Masaharu finds you interesting. It would not be good for me to get your name before him, he would be upset."

"Why?"

"It's one of his quirks." Renji said dryly, thinking about the results of said quirks. "Since you interest him he will get possessive."

"It is my name to give." Yagyuu pointed out calmly. "Please, call me Hiroshi."

Renji sighed and opened the door to Akaya's room, "As you wish." He frowned as he looked around the room. Bunta was trying to cheer up Jackal, while Masaharu was alternating between glaring at Seiichi and Genichirou and banging on Akaya's closet door. Akaya himself was nowhere to be found. "Where's Akaya?"

In a flash Masaharu was moving towards him, as was Bunta but Jackal grabbed him before he could get too far and pulled him onto his lap, caging him there with his arms. Masaharu reached Renji before anyone registered his movement and punched him in the face. An instant later Genichirou was up and heading to grab Masaharu, but Yagyuu got there first and Masaharu allowed himself to be restrained.

"What in nine Hells gave you the idea that it would be good for you to stay?" Masaharu raged, suddenly surging against Yagyuu's arms and surprising him enough to free himself and launch at Renji again. This time he grabbed him up by the shoulders and shook him violently. "You bastard!"

"When everyone except you and Yagyuu-san came up to reassure him they didn't care about his fangs or birth-mother what do you think he thought?" Bunta asked, his voice low and dangerous as he glared, eyes burning, from his place within Jackal's unrelenting embrace.

"Hiroshi-kun and I needed to ask Ana something." Renji replied as calmly as he could.

The temperature of the air dropped. "Did you get your answers, Yanagi?" Masaharu's voice was scarily calm. He had stopped shaking Renji and instead was pining him to the wall as he leaned in dangerously, teal eyes cold.

"Iie, she avoided answering." Renji replied evenly, his voice not betraying his nerves.

"Aa." Masaharu hissed before turning and shoving him in the direction of the closet. "She's hiding something, we all know that, she's been hiding it since she adopted Bunta and I. She'll tell us eventually, she always does. Fix your mess, Yanagi." With a sneer he stormed out of the room and down the stairs.

"Baka," Bunta said, finally freeing himself to chase after his brother.

Renji sighed and knocked on the closet door after straightening himself a little. "'Kaya-chan. I know you've been listening through the door. Please let me in. Neither Hiroshi nor I care you have fangs, nor about your past." The door opened slightly allowing Renji to slip in before it slammed closed again.

Seiichi grinned, "Never a dull day in this house, welcome to the family, Yagyuu-san."

"Call me Hiroshi, all of you. If we are indeed family you may use my name."

"You're playing a dangerous game, Hiroshi-kun." Genichirou replied.

"I still have no idea why it should be dangerous. It is simply a name." Yagyuu said mildly.

Seiichi smiled serenely. "Aa, I see. As you wish Hiroshi-kun. As I said, welcome to the family, do you play doubles?"

Yagyuu blinked. "I can."

"Good. We plan to challenge the senpai-tachi for the Regular positions. They are worthless. We need Renji in Singles 3, this leaves Masa without a doubles partner." Seiichi smiled again, this time it held a feral edge. "We will take Nationals."

"They let 1st Years challenge to become Regulars?" Yagyuu asked, surprised.

"They'll let us." Genichirou replied simply.

"Dessert is ready!" Ana called upstairs.

The boys were about to knock on the closet when Renji stuck his head out, "Did Ana call us for dessert?"

"Hai, just now." Seiichi replied.

Renji nodded and exited the closet, carrying Akaya on his back. "Let's go."

They found Masaharu and Bunta waiting at the table as they came down. Masaharu still had an angry aura around him and Bunta seemed to have given up trying to calm him down.

"Do you have any objections, Masa?" Seiichi asked, ignoring the dangerous aura surrounding the white haired boy.

"We'll play Bun and Kal after dessert."

By the next week they were ready. Seiichi, Genichirou and Renji lead a bouncy Bunta, calm Jackal, slouching and rebellious Masaharu, and unreadable Yagyuu onto the courts. The lead three all had their game faces on, Genichirou's hat shadowed his eyes and his face was set in a serious look that made him look older than his 11 years. Renji's eyes were closed, as normal, and his face was completely blank in contrast to Seiichi's open, hard, blue eyes and smiling countenance. They made a powerful front as they led the two doubles pairs to Court A, all seven of them giving off dangerous vibes. The Regulars stood on Court A, talking with the coach. The captain noticed them first and turned to sneer at them, covering up his unease at the seven powerful first years.

"What do you want?" He demanded, thankful his voice came out normally.

"I challenge you for Captaincy and you're position as Singles 1." Seiichi said in a ringing voice that got the attention of the whole, huge, club.

"I challenge fukubuchou for Singles 2 and title." Genichirou seconded, staring darkly at the older boy.

"I challenge Abe-san for the Singles 3 position." Renji added, each boy speaking as soon as the one before him was done, cutting off anything the older boys might say.

"We challenge for the Doubles 2 Regular position." Jackal said firmly, laying a calming hand on the sugar-high Bunta's shoulder.

"Doubles 1, ditto." Masaharu drawled, leaning forward wrapping an arm around Yagyuu, teal eyes flashing.

"But," the fukubuchou started.

"But you're First Years." Renji cut off, and then tilted his head at the taller boy, "Is that what you were going to say, fukubuchou?"

"Know you're going to lose, but want to keep your positions anyway?" Bunta asked, amethyst eyes burning mischievously.

"Bunta," Jackal scolded gently, "don't insult our senpai-tachi."

"It's not an insult to tell the truth." Yagyuu countered calmly. "However, don't provoke them, Bunta, it's cowardly."

"Yeah Bunta," Masaharu drawled teasingly. "Don't act like the senpai-tachi." He grinned broadly as he ducked Yagyuu's good-natured cuff.

The three First Year singles players kept their attention locked on their opponents, ignoring the byplay between the doubles players behind them. The Regulars stared at Renji's unreadable face and closed eyes, Genichirou's shadowed eyes almost glowing beneath the cap and his mouth in a stubborn line, and in the middle stood Seiichi, slightly shorter, blue eyes ice cold and he was smiling calmly as he stared back at the captain without blinking. The coach surveyed the First Years, the three Singles players standing strong and immovable in front, the doubles pairs connecting to each other by touch as they stared at their rivals with varying unsettling looks. Jackal's face was completely blank, obviously centered, as he stared unblinkingly at the Doubles 2 pair, beside him Bunta's eyes burned with a startling intensity. Yagyuu was composed and calm, like still water hiding a monster, light glinting off his glasses and hiding his eyes, while Masaharu's stormy teal eyes glared at the Doubles 1 pair. She hid her smile and stepped between the groups.

"Let them challenge, if they want." She declared, hiding another smile as Masaharu, Bunta and Seiichi gave feral smiles, Yagyuu and Renji managed to give off the impression that they were doing the same without actually changing facial expressions while Jackal and Genichirou gave off a deeply satisfied feel, like the lion who has just spotted its prey.

The captain hid an uneasy shiver. "Fine, Doubles 1 and 2 go play on Court B. Singles 2 and 3 play on Court A. When you're all finished Yukimura-san and I will play."

Seiichi turned to his group. "Don't lose a game, I expect all of you 6-0, Renji I will allow 6-1 due to extenuating circumstances. I will be watching."

"Hai, hai, Yukimura-buchou." Masaharu and Bunta chorused teasingly.

"Stop joking around!" Genichirou snapped.

"We'll watch them, Sanada-fukubuchou." Jackal and Yagyuu grabbed their partners and dragged them to the courts.

"Don't take off your weights!" Renji called as he turned and walked to his own court.


	7. Becoming the Team

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hey all, sorry about the long wait for updates, I've been going around in circles trying to get my Visa. It's all worked out now :) Anyway, here's the next chapter and the introduction of a few more important OCs. Also, if you could, in a review, let me know if you want in depth tennis scenes or highlights, I'd like to know before I get to the tournaments. I have to write them in (I skimmed over them in my handwritten version). So let me know how much you want to see and enjoy :)

The doubles pairs nodded in acknowledgement and waited for their opponents to face them. Renji had been having them all train with weights since they started training to take the Regular spots in the beginning of the year. Yukimura watched the games progress with a critical eye, muttering at every mistake no matter how small, and making notes in his head on what needed to be improved, drilled and perfected. One by one the senior Regulars fell. First was the Doubles 2 game, Bunta and Jackal winning with ease at 6-0. The next game finished was Singles 3, Renji winning 6-1, giving up the first game in favor of polishing his data on the older player. Seiichi frowned as he turned back to the doubles court where the Doubles 1 game was locked at deuce. He could tell that Yagyuu and Masaharu were playing with their opponents, when they won deuce they would have beat them 6-0, but for some reason felt the need to drag it out. He glared thoughtfully at Masaharu, assuming it was the silver-haired boy's idea. Masaharu felt the glare and glanced up to see Seiichi frowning at him.

"I do believe that Yukimura-buchou is getting annoyed, Hiro'." Masaharu tossed a wicked smirk at his partner as he smashed the ball between his opponents bringing them back to deuce for the 4th time.

"Aa, Maybe you should stop fooling around, 'Haru." Hiroshi replied evenly, his expression not changing.

Seiichi was momentarily distracted by Genichirou finishing his opponent 6-0. When he turned back to Masaharu and Hiroshi he found the game over, the pair clinching it 6-0 while Bunta was staring at his brother in shock.

"Since when did you call him Hiro'? And you hate being called 'Haru!" Bunta exclaimed, finding his voice.

"Because only one person is allowed to call me 'Haru, and I thought I'd never see him again." Masaharu explained, smirking.

"So Yagyuu never gave us permission to use his name because we already had it." Bunta realized, then smirked at the glasses-clad boy and drawled teasingly. "Glad to have you back, Hiroshi-chan, we missed you. You grew so much we didn't recognize you."

Hiroshi glared at the pink-haired boy and turned his back on him, turning to his madly grinning partner. "Seiichi's match should be beginning soon."

The doubles pairs gathered, with Genichirou and Renji, around the first court to watch Seiichi and the captain play. Masaharu watched the game with unseeing eyes as he reflected on the past few years. After losing his parents to the flames of a fire in his apartment building when he was five, and having his best friend aside from Bunta move away the year before, he threw himself into Tennis. Ana had taken him and Bunta immediately after the fire, and kept them when their other relatives didn't want the burden of raising either boy. She had encouraged the two to take up tennis, and both boys lost themselves in it. As the years passed the thrill of tennis was no longer enough and he'd started acting out. Ana was called many times by the principal, and had to come down to school, because of his love of trouble, but she never complained. In fact, most of the time she tried to defend him, and she was able to talk to the principal out of harsher punishments on more than one occasion. With his acting out Kunimitsu had withdrawn from everyone more and more until he finally left. Truthfully it still hurt, Masaharu knew, no matter what Ana said, that is was at least partly his fault. Now, though, his best friend was back, he had gained other close friends as well, and Ana had basically adopted most of them as well. His class, 1-C, was the more delinquent kids, and he and Bunta had set themselves up as the leaders of the boys. The Saitou twins remained their ever constant seconds as they had since they became friends. His life was finally settling down in most aspects. The only thing that troubled him now was that for some reason this year the girls of the school seemed to have gone crazy, he had to explain to them that he liked boys for them to leave him alone. Luckily Rikkai was a fairly open minded school and no one cared. Masaharu was enjoying the relative peace, though he knew he'd keep puling pranks and not doing as much work as he could get away with not doing, it was too fun to stop now. Ana probably would still be called many times a year, but now he was doing it for fun, not attention. Masaharu glanced at his brother in all but blood to see what he was doing.

Bunta's amethyst eyes locked with Masaharu's teal one. He knew what the other boy had been thinking about. Turning back to the match Bunta smirked. Seiichi was toying with his opponent, what he had glared at the Doubles 1 pair for. He took each game to deuce and held it there for four or five deuces before taking the game. He was now winning 5-0 at 30 all. Bunta allowed his mind to wander as his brother's had. He remembered more about the fire then Masaharu did, neither boy knew why but the fire had imprinted itself in his mind. He and Masaharu had been in Bunta's room, hiding from their parents when it started. They been in Masaharu's apartment earlier and gone into the kitchen to find Masaharu's mother and Bunta's father naked on the table doing something. They went to find Bunta's mother to ask her what they were doing, and if Bunta's father was hurting Masaharu's mother because she was making weird noises, his older mind now knew they were having sex, and they found Bunta's mom hanging from the ceiling. The boys had screamed and locked themselves in Bunta's room, wind slamming the door closed right before they locked it. No one knew how the fire started but Bunta still had nightmares about it, seeing it consume his mother's dead body, and his father with Masaharu's mother. He and Masaharu somehow escaped unscathed and Ana found them on the street and whisked them away. It took him a long time to trust her, and he became used to wearing a cheerful mask to hide his cruel and sadistic side, realizing it wasn't appropriate in school. In his new friends he found others, beside Ana and his brothers, who saw through the mask and like him anyway. In the twins he found a friend in Hajime who understood him and his darker side, while Shin bonded with Masaharu about pranks and troublemaking. His attention was drawn back to the current match with the, now former, captain cursed angrily and incoherently. The First Years exchanged satisfied smirks; they were now the first team of only First Year students in Rikkai Dai Fuzoku history.

"Alright," The coach said, gaining their attention. "Starting in afternoon practice you're the new Regulars, for now. Now get to class."

"A moment, Coach," Seiichi said smiling sweetly at the coach, she looked at him and he continued. "We have reached this level on our own, and we know ourselves the best. Perhaps you could concentrate on the non-regular members and leave us to our own training."

"Are you saying you don't need my assistance?" The coach asked incredulously.

"We believe there is nothing you can help us with that we cannot take care of ourselves and that the non-regular club members would better benefit from your help." Renji said calmly.

The coach blinked in surprise at the strong group. "Show me you can take care of yourselves this afternoon and I'll think about it."

"Hai." The seven new Regulars chorused, bowing.

"Ne, Yukimura-buchou, Marui and I are the leaders of 1-C, and us having to listen to you during school would not be good." Masaharu said as they changed for class.

"Aa, good point. Alright, your class, your rules, nothing transfer to or from the courts." Seiichi agreed. "And you know you can still call me Seiichi like you have been."

"We know, Yukimura-buchou, it's more fun this way though. We wouldn't want our opponents to realize how much we like you." Hiroshi interjected calmly.

"Anything we can do to throw them off their game is fun." Bunta added with a wicked smirk.

"Especially if it's acting completely different on the courts then at home. It's another sort of game." Jackal continued.

"That makes sense." Renji nodded. "Whose idea was that?"

"Hajime, Shin, Bunta and I thought of it, Hiroshi and Jackal helped figure out some more details."

"Aa, I would like to meet those two, and the girl's leader when she is back from Osaka." Renji mentioned. "She is in your class as well."

"Eeh? Girl's leader?" Bunta asked, pausing to stare at the brunette genius. "I didn't know they had a leader."

"Aa, she manages to control most of the girls in the school. She went to Osaka for personal reasons at the beginning of this year but she should be back soon. Her absence is why the girls have been crazier this year. She's kept a handle on the more rambunctious girls who now have free reign with her absence." Renji explained. "Her name is Oshitari Rin, class 1-C; she has a twin at Hyotei who is also a tennis player. He is among the five First Years who took over the Hyotei club earlier this year. I don't know much else about her as she keeps to herself most of the time. I do know that she's friends with the twins though."

"They've never mentioned her, we'll have to ask them in class. See you all at practice." Masaharu mused and waved as he and Bunta separated to their classroom, Jackal and Hiroshi continuing to 1-B and Seiichi, Genichirou and Renji to 1-A.

"See you at lunch." Jackal called to his doubles partner who waved his hand in acknowledgment.

"Don't get caught." Hiroshi added, Masaharu turned to wink as he reached the door where the Saitou twins waited.

The twins were nearly identical; the only difference was that Shin dyed his hair red so that he would not be mistaken for his twin anymore. Both boys were tall and lean, fit from their training in some sword style they never shared, and both had piercing golden eyes which easily unnerved anyone caught in their gaze.

"Yo." Shin waved in greeting as the two tennis players approached and entered the room, twins right behind them.

"You know the girl's leader?" Masaharu asked, staring at the twins. "And you never thought to introduce us?"

The four dropped into their normal seats in the center of the room. Before either twin could reply a quiet female voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me, Niou-san, Marui-san, 'Jime, Shin." Her voice had a slight Kansai drawl.

"Rin-chan! You're back!" Shin said happily. He stood swiftly and opened his arms so the girl could step into his embrace with a resigned sigh. "When did you get back?"


	8. Meeting Rin

Just passing through and editing before the next chapter comes out. It will be out by next weekend. My life blew up soon after I posted this chapter because I had to find a new job to stay in Korea, however, I found one and am finally all settled in, so I should start updating again. Also, I'm approaching the end of what I have handwritten, so be warned, my grammar may decrease. This chapter and the one prior have the most changes so make sure you re-read them please and thank you. Review and I may get it out before the weekend. Sorry people who have me on alert, it's just edits not a new chapter. ~Night~

Original A/N:

Hey all! I finally got past that writer's block! I hope people are still reading this! I will try to update every other week or so, but no promises. I love reviews so that I know what works and what people likes, but as long as it's being read I'm happy. I know that this chapter is a little awkward, but it's necessary. This one is for my Eiji-chan and Momo-chan. Get online sometime you two, I miss you!

~Night~

"Ok, I hugged you, you can let go. I got back this weekend. Come on, let go, you're going to ruin your bad boy reputation." She complained.

Shin let her go letting Masaharu and Bunta see the girl for the first time as she moved closer to Hajime. She was someone they had seen before, but never really noticed as she was nearly silent in class and often would disappear during breaks. She had long dark blue hair in a braid down to waist, thin glasses covered icy blue eyes but did not shield them like Hiroshi's glasses did for him.

"And a hug wouldn't destroy your own reputation, my violent lady?" Hajime smirked at her as she tilted her head up to glare at him.

"Not in the slightest, 'Jime, because none of the girls would ever say anything," She said dryly. "Now, introduce me."

Shin stepped up between his twin and the girl. "Niou Masaharu, Marui Bunta meet Oshitari Rin. She is the girl's leader, and our close friend. We didn't introduce you earlier because she wasn't ready. Rin, these are the leaders of 1-C." He gestured between the three of them.

"I apologize for forcing 'Jime and Shin to not mention me." She said formally, "I was assessing when would be the best time to approach you. Please, call me Rin, I tend to react a little," She paused thoughtfully, "badly when I am called by my family name."

"The girls listen to you? Yanagi-kun mentioned you control most of the girls in the school." Bunta said, eyeing her small stature and frail form pointedly.

"When the best time to approach us for what, exactly?" Masaharu added, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"I would like to extend a hand of friendship and offer an alliance between us. There is no need to respond immediately as I'm sure you want to observe me as I have you." Rin said, still oddly formal. "To answer the first question, yes, the girls listen to me, or else. I only have ever had a problem with 3-A which was quickly taken care of, however I imagine I will have to reapply the lesson."

"We don't accept friendship lightly, Rin-san. What would the alliance entail?" Bunta asked, leaning forward as his eyes narrowed as well, trying to understand this strange girl.

"The girls of 1-C would accept you as leaders as they accept me when I am not here. As I am sure Yanagi-san mentioned I have been away so I will need to reestablish myself and I will not be here as often as I would like. Will you accept the alliance for now, the friendship may come later?" Rin asked, extending her hand.

"Hai, we'll do that for now." Masaharu said, thrown by her formal speech, he took her hand to shake it.

As they shook the rest of the class began filing in for the start of classes. The first girl through the door stopped still, eyes wide as she took in the scene before turning and bolting out of the classroom. Rin sighed as she released Masaharu's hand.

"I expect the rest of the school to know of my return within minutes now. We will speak more at another time." Rin bowed slightly before going to a seat in the corner by the window of the classroom.

Masaharu and Bunta exchanged slightly surprised glances before turning to the Saitou twins.

"Rin's secrets are her own." Hajime said, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "But there are some common knowledge things we can fill you in on."

"There's the name thing. Everyone calls her Rin. She was understating when she said she reacts badly to her family name. You'll probably see something at lunch to show you what happens." Shin started.

"Also, she doesn't like being touched. That's why Shin didn't hug her, he let her step into it." Hajime continued. "She is older than her brother, Yuushi, by a few minutes but the way she talks about him and they act it's almost like she is a much older sister, or a mother."

"She does almost always talk that formally, and if given half a chance she'll mother you into tomorrow." Shin finished. "But other than that, you'll have to figure out as you get to know her."

"Well, it's more information than we knew at the beginning." Bunta sighed, sinking into his seat as the teacher came in and the class settled down.

"Welcome back, Rin-san, your absence was felt greatly. I'm sorry to hear about your aunt." The teacher said as he got to her name in the roll call.

"Thank you, Tsukiono-sensei, I will pass your condolences on to my parents when I see them next. It is nice to be back in Tokyo." Rin said as she stood and bowed slightly before sitting down again.

The morning flew by as the two boys kept an eye on the silent girl in the back of the class. They were surprised when she stood as soon as lunch was announced and moments later the door flew open. A girl they recognized from 1-A, she had been Renji's partner on a project a few months ago, hurried into the class and headed straight for Rin. They had quiet conversation before the 1-A girl led Rin out of the room.

"That was fast." Shin said dryly.

"I'll bet you dinner that it's Aino-san from 3-A harassing Aino-chan in 1-A." Hajime smiled at his brother as the two stood.

"That's a sucker's bet." Shin replied. "Come on, let's go watch."

Masaharu and Bunta followed the twins down the hall to the classroom for 1-A. As they reached the door they could already hear the yelling die away.

"I love watching her work." Hajime remarked, grinning as he open the door.

"You sound like you're in love with her, don't you have a fiancée already?" Bunta teased, looking up at his friend.

"It takes a far braver man than I to fall in love with Rin. Besides, Ayame would kill me." Hajime replied.

They looked into the classroom, which by now was silent. Rin was in the front of the room, the boys were crowded to one side with Seiichi, Genichirou and Renji standing slightly in front of them as if protecting them. To one side stood the girls from 1-A and to the other a small group from 3-A, one girl from each class slightly in front. Masaharu could see the family resemblance between them. Rin looked slightly aggravated as she eyed to the two sides.

"This is ridiculous. It was the boys who performed the coup de tat in the tennis club. While, yes, that disrupts the boys a bit, especially if these First Years are as good as the rumors say. However, that has nothing to do with us. This is thinly disguised ruse Aino-san is using to attack Hina-chan, again." Rin scolded, looking at the 3-A girls. "Why do you keep following her? She doesn't learn."

"When did you get back?" The 3-A girl in front demanded.

"Today, I saw Suzuki-chan go running when she saw me so I know there were at least rumors about it." Rin replied before hopping to sit primly on the desk. "How did you girls manage to get past Fujimiya-sensei?"

"That's my cue. I'll be right back." Shin murmured before turning and running quietly down the hall.

"It does not make a difference, really, I'm just curious." Rin continued calmly, eyeing the 3-A girls. "Things work differently for the girls; you know that, Aino-san."

The older girl sneered in response. "You think you're so great because you have a little power."

"I have more than a little power." Rin corrected, interrupting whatever else she had been planning on saying.

Aino's look of distaste grew and she took a threatening step towards Rin. The seated girl didn't move, she just arched an eyebrow at the other 3-A girls. They stepped forward and grabbed Aino's arms, pulling her back slightly.

"Let it go, Rei-chan, this was fine when we thought Rin-sama was away." The girl holding her right arm said.

"Yeah, with Rin-sama here, things are different." The girl to left added.

Aino wrenched herself free and looked incredulously at her classmates. "Seriously? You're afraid of this little girl? Rin-sama," She sneered again, turning to the girl, "Why is everyone so scared of you?"

Rin hopped down so she was standing, the watching boys noticed the large height difference between the girls, Aino was a good 10 centimeters taller than Rin. "Come closer and find out," Rin challenged.

"I'm not scared of you, Oshitari-san." Aino taunted, taking a step closer.

Hajime groaned a little to himself and leaned back to check the hallway. Masaharu and Bunta watched in amazement as Rin's ice blue eyes flashed a darker blue and she flowed towards the other girl, attacking. Her blows were furious; though they could tell she was holding herself back some. Aino could not defend herself against the smaller girl's anger. Hajime turned his attention back to the fight and sighed happily, admiring her form. The boys were so taken with watching the violence in front of them they didn't notice another presence behind them until he spoke.

"Rin, hold," A deep, smooth voice ordered.

Bunta turned around to see their tall, red-haired P.E. teacher behind them. He was 3-A's homeroom teacher and would be moving up to the high school at the end of the year so they had never really paid him much attention. However, Bunta was intrigued as he turned back to see Rin stop mid-swing in response to his voice. She straightened slowly and stepped away from Aino. She turned to the doorway, eyes calm once more.

"You told me you were going to talk to someone about your control." Fujimiya-sensei's voice was cold as he eyed the girl.

"Yes, sensei, I'm working on it." Rin replied.

"One more incident and I'll have to call over to Hyotei." The teacher informed her.

"Yes sensei."

Masaharu and Bunta watched the interaction closely, as did Genichirou, Seiichi and Renji from their corner. All five boys were fascinated as the teacher's face suddenly became less cold as he continued to eye the small girl.

"Have you eaten? Lunch is almost over." He demanded.

"No sensei. Mizuno-chan came to get me right at the beginning of lunch. Matsui-sensei lost track of time so we started lunch late." She looked down slightly, as though the man had chastised her.

Fujimiya-sensei tossed her something. "And I'm sure you didn't bring anything to eat either, Chibi-sama. Go back to your class and don't cause too much trouble on your first day back."

"Thank you very much, sensei." Rin bowed again after catching the object. She turned to glare at the girls. "Don't let these two drag all of you into their sibling rivalry. I'm sick of dealing with it." With a last hard glare she left the room.

Masaharu and Bunta walked over to join their teammates to the side.

"Well, she's certainly interesting." Seiichi said calmly. "How could we have not noticed her before? This fight does not seem to the first time it happened."

Renji kept an eye on the girls in front of them. Fujimiya-sensei was ripping into all of them. "We were so focused on taking over the team. We have not been in the classroom during lunch that often, we usually meet on the roof."

"Aa." Seiichi nodded.

"She was holding back." Genichirou said. "A lot, she is far more powerful than she just showed."

"She's so tiny though." Bunta said then turned to the Saitou twins. "Where does she hide that strength?"

Their attention was diverted as the 3-A girls left. Fujimiya-sensei approached their group.

"Saitou-san." He started

"Which one?" They chorused, grinning wickedly.

"Both of you," He eyed the grinning boys and frowned slightly. "We had a talk at the beginning of the year about this."

"We didn't know she was coming back today or we would have had extra food." Shin said immediately.

"And Shin went to get you when she needed it." Hajime put in.

"Make sure she finds whoever she needs to help her." Fujimiya-sensei said, sighing at their antics before turning.

"HE leaves tomorrow, sensei." Shin said, causing the teacher to pause. "SHE left last night."

"Thank you for telling me. I'll take care of it." Fujimiya-sensei said, without turning around and continued out of the classroom.

The five tennis players turned on the twins, they took a step back at the combined looks. "We can't tell you much." They chorused.

"What was that with Fujimiya-sensei?" Renji asked, his eyes slitting in interest allowing a sliver of his own golden eyes to shine through.

"Fujimiya-sensei and Rin have known each other for years. Sensei's younger sister was Rin's caretaker before her parents and brother moved up to Tokyo. He watches out for her at school." Hajime said.

"We don't know why she listens to him and not anyone else. He asked us to watch out for her when he can't because she doesn't always take care of herself." Shin added before looking at the boys slyly. "She'll probably tell you more if you accept her friendship."

"Friendship?" Seiichi asked.

"Aa, she offered an alliance and wants to be friends." Bunta said. "We accepted the alliance but we want to know more before we try being friends."

"We should get back so we can eat lunch." Masaharu said. "Bye buchou, fukubuchou, Yanagi-san."

"Bye."

The boys were silent as they entered their own classroom. Hajime sighed and Shin groaned as they saw Rin mediating another fight with the bento from Fujimiya-sensei forgotten on her desk. Masaharu and Bunta blinked as the two girls who had been fighting walked away, arm and arm, smiling. Rin sank back into her seat. Masaharu sauntered over, grabbing his own bento, and sat down next to her.

"What'd sensei give you?" He drawled, opening his own bento.

Rin blinked in surprise at his sudden intrusion before pulling over her bento and opening it.

"Yo, Masa, share your food, I forgot mine." Bunta dropped into a seat in front of the silver-haired boy.

They began to bicker over the food as the twins sat next to Bunta, across from Rin. She watched them, blue eyes slightly unfocused, as she absent-mindedly ate. Shin joined in their playful argument as Hajime sat quietly, keeping an eye on the quiet girl. Her eyes suddenly cleared and she arched an eyebrow at the playful argument going on.

"You don't have to pretend. I know." She informed Masaharu and Bunta coolly, causing them to look at her in surprise and slightly confusion.

"What do you know and how?" Bunta demanded, amethyst eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Rin's glasses glinted, shielding her eyes from sight suddenly as she stood, a small sad smile on her lips. "You might say I'm a friend of Ana." She closed her barely touched bento. "Class is starting soon, excuse me."

She stood and put the half eaten bento on the teacher's desk. While she was up the boys moved back to their own seats.


	9. Making a Friend

Hey all,

So sorry this took so long. The road to hell and all that. I got back into writing when I went through and did corrections, like a month ago, but then I got more classes added to my schedule and I had to find my balance again. Here's the next chapter, hope it was worth the wait. Shouldn't be this long for another chapter. I'm re-working a lot of the stuff I had written so I actually have a huge part I decided would not take place in this school year as I had written, but the next one, which has also thrown off my writing. Please review and let me know what you think! My friends are the only reviewers and though I love them, they don't count 100% because I harass them into reviewing. Hope you like it!

~Night~

PS sorry for the double email, I forgot to add my line breaks back in before posting.

* * *

Akaya was used to being alone at school. Since he was in a different class then his brothers they never really could be fully counted on. They helped him out when they could, but for the most part, he was on his own. He didn't mind it that much though. He'd never reached out as a young child for fear of the consequences. After Ana had adopted him he felt that his family gave him all he needed and never tried to expand. There were a few boys in the year above that had helped him when they saw him in trouble, but he doubted they remembered him. They certainly hadn't said anything when Masaharu and Bunta had brought them home. Now, though, he was truly alone, with his brothers in a different building then him, all the way across campus. He hid his problems as best he could from his family, not wanting them to worry, but now, halfway through the year, it was really starting to get to him. He wasn't even allowed to play tennis to relieve his frustration. Ana had found that that his darker side sometimes escaped while playing and he occasionally injured the player. It wasn't his fault that they whined so much had to be taken the hospital for a small sprain! So she'd forbidden him from playing until he could control himself better, and he was getting better, slowly. So here he was, hiding on the roof, hitting a tennis ball against a wall, alone, frustrated, and sulking.

"Wow, you're really good at that."

The sudden voice startled Akaya and he turned, green eyes wide. Everyone avoided him when he came to the roof, he may have accidentally pushed one of the boys who bothered him down a small flight of stairs to get them to leave him alone. But that was beside the point, there was someone here, talking to him. He wasn't wearing a uniform, and Akaya didn't really recognize him, Akaya tilted his head, confused, and the other boy giggled at him.

"Hi, my name is Ootori Choutarou. What's your name?" The strange boy said, smiling kindly and holding out a hand.

"Kirihara Akaya," He replied cautiously, shaking the outstretched hand. "Are you new?"

"I'm only here for the rest of the year, then I'm going back to Hyotei. My parents need me out of the house for a little while and this best school that I can board at. Hyotei starts boarding for Junior High and up only." Ootori said, his brown eyes dimming a little.

Akaya frowned a little, not liking this new boy's sad look. "Do you want me to show you around?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I would like that." The brown eyes lightened again.

Akaya felt proud of himself and held out his hand. "Give me your schedule." He ordered, not noticing the taller boy's amusement as the schedule was passed over. "Good, you're in my class that makes this easy. Why aren't you wearing a uniform?"

Ootori gave a slight grin, apparently entertained by Akaya's manner. "I haven't gotten my uniform yet, all I had was my old Hyotei uniform and considering the feeling between our schools I thought I'd better skip it."

"You look out of place." Akaya informed him. "You shouldn't do that. I'll lend you a uniform, come on." He grabbed the other's wrist in one hand and his things in his other.

"You're a bit smaller than me, wouldn't that look stranger?"

"It's not my fault I'm short. Tou-san says my growth spurt will come soon and then I'll be taller than everyone." Akaya said automatically before registering the question. "No, it's not my uniform; it's one of, Niou-senpai's. When he and Marui-senpai, and Saitou-tachi-senpai graduated and moved to Building 3 they gave me their old clothes as a joke."

Ootori blinked in surprise as they abruptly stopped and clothes were thrust into his arms. As soon as he realized they'd stopped, Akaya was dragging him off again.

"Lunch is almost over so we have to hurry. Change quickly." Akaya ordered before shoving him into a bathroom stall.

'Tou-san would be so proud of him, Akaya thought happily. He'd made a new friend. He had finally placed why the boy was so familiar, he was on the tennis circuit for their age group, which gave Akaya hope that they'd be able to play and this time Akaya wouldn't destroy his opponent so completely. The other boys had been a waste of time, that was why Akaya's darker side came out, he was so annoyed by how much they sucked. Was it too much to ask for a decent opponent? He also sort of remembered something Saitou-tachi-senpai had said about the Ootori heir being nice and polite, so that meant the new boy would listen and not laugh at Akaya. Also, he was bigger than Akaya, so maybe Akaya could use that to get the other boys to take him seriously _before_ he had to beat them up again. He was getting bored of always beating on them, and he ignored the few times they'd gotten the upper hand because they cheated so it didn't count.

"Eto…Kirihara-san? Didn't you say we have to hurry?" Ootori's voice startled Akaya out of his thoughts and made him jump.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Akaya dragged Ootori to the classroom. "Why weren't you here this morning?"

"I had to do a lot of paperwork for my transfer and take a placement test." Ootori explained, grinning again at the smaller boy.

"Oh," Akaya shrugged, "Sounds boring. We have English right after lunch now so I'm going to take a nap. You can use my books if you don't have any yet."

Ootori blinked again, a little taken aback. "A nap?"

"Yeah, I don't do English." Akaya shrugged again, not explaining anymore as he fell into his seat and put his head down.

"Ok…" Ootori eyed him for another few seconds as he sat as well. "Where are your books?"

"Right, forgot." Akaya blinked, sitting up to dig around his desk to hand the books over. He quickly put his head down and closed his eyes again. He was willing himself to sleep when he heard his class returning.

"Hey, are you new?" Akaya identified the voice as Aoi, his main enemy.

"Yes, today is my first day. I'm transferring from Hyotei for the remainder of the year. I'll be boarding here." Ootori's voice was calm and flatter than when he had been talking with Akaya.

Akaya heard footsteps getting closer and surrounding them. He kept his head down and eyes closed, pretending to already be asleep.

"Since you're new here, we're going to help you out." Aoi said. "Be careful around Kirihara-san. He's a demon. The teachers favor him because they're scared of what he'll do to them. He beats up people for getting in his way. If you ever need help, we can protect you, though, because we seem to be the only ones who can see him clearly for the demon he is."

"Thank you for the warning," Ootori paused, silently prompting a name.

"I'm Aoi Koji."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ootori Choutarou. As I was saying. Thank you for the warning. It is good to see people caring so much for other's well being. In Hyotei nobody was ever as straightforward in their manner. There were many layers to anything that anyone said. I appreciate how open everyone is here. To be sure, if I ever have a need of your assistance, I'll let you know. I'll also keep my eyes open for any demonic behavior. However, class is about to start, so you'd best take your seats before the teacher comes."

Akaya cracked an eye open to see Ootori smiling politely as the other boys shuffled back to their seats, confused but satisfied that the other boy would listen to what they'd said about Akaya.

"Ootori-san," Akaya said quietly, trailing off as the bigger boy turned toward him with worried eyes and cut him off.

"You hear that? Oh, I'd thought you were asleep already. I didn't-"

"Ootori-san." Akaya interrupted. "That was awesome. I bet they don't even realize you insulted them! I'm never introducing you to senpai-tachi though. Word games hurt my head." He closed his eye and willed himself to sleep.

* * *

Ana and Kunimitsu sat across from each other in the Tezuka family's kitchen. Each had a mug of steaming liquid in front of them. Kunimitsu kept subconsciously rubbing his left elbow. Ana watched him silently, waiting. Her tired golden eyes met his angry and defiant ones.

"Why did you do this to me?" Kunimitsu finally broke the silence, the angry question cutting through the air like a whip.

"Turn you mortal?" Ana asked rhetorically, though her brother nodded, "because I'm tired, Kuni."

"What?" Kunimitsu growled, eyes flashing.

"You're my twin brother, and I love you, Kuni, but we are over 1,000 years old. You have to grow up sometime, little brother! I have spent far too much time cleaning up your messes, even before we became this way. I'm doing what I should have done, what Mother and Father should have done, years ago. I've watched your Seigaku team, before you left, they'll be good for you. Maybe they'll be able to teach you responsibility where I failed." Ana explained, taking in extra, unneeded, air to sigh heavily.

"If you knew I was leaving why didn't you stop me? If I hurt the boys that much, why didn't you protect them?" Kunimitsu didn't look at his sister, choosing instead to stare into his hot chocolate.

Ana's eyes flashed briefly in anger at the accusation before she calmed herself. "I knew from the beginning you were going to run, I just didn't know when. I cursed the potion every time I made it since we got the boys." She frowned slightly as he rubbed his arm again. "Is your arm bothering you that much?"

"No, I'm not used to lasting injuries." He shrugged. "So why this? Why not make me stay?"

"That would have hurt the boys more. They saw you pull away; if you had stayed it would have been worse for them. They wouldn't have understood." She reached across the table to grab his hand, causing him to look at her and their eyes locked. "Think of this as an opportunity, Kuni. When you're 25 the curse will lift, if you choose for it to. This is a second chance for you. Be a child again, enjoy yourself. Make friends without having to hide a part of yourself. Stay at Seigaku and rise above that injury. You can do this, I'll be waiting, and watching, to see what you achieve."

Kunimitsu stared at her in silence for another long moment. "Yamato-buchou wouldn't let me quit, neither would Oishi-san. We made a vow to lead the team to Nationals, together. The other First Years, Fuji-san, Takahi-san and Inui-san agreed to follow us."

"Don't run away from this."

"I won't."

"I'll come visit as often as I can."

The twins quieted and drank from their mugs in silence, thinking about the past and the future, trying not dwell too much on the present.

* * *

please review, it'll help me update faster :D


	10. Sharing Information pt 1

Hey all,

Once again, sorry about the wait. RL has been rather crazy recently. I also ran out of what I have pre-written in a notebook, I accidentally skipped something further ahead when I was hand writing so I need to re-organize my thoughts again. Anyway, here's a new chapter, a mean cliff-hanger (which I hope gets you to review) and a promise that I have the next part mostly written. Sorry it's rather short. Enjoy

~Nyx~

PS Thank you to my reviewer Tree of Leaves! I would answer your questions, but it's a fun thing that comes up later :D If you are really dying to know about the nickname, leave an email address and I'll tell you.

* * *

After meeting her brother, Ana returned home to wait for her children to be done with school. She couldn't wait to hear how the older boys had done with taking over the team. She had no doubts they succeeded, but she wanted to hear everything. The front door was thrown open by an excited Akaya, causing Ana to jump a little. Akaya had been quieter since the older boys started Middle School; it was good that he was excited again, even if it startled her.

"Tadaima~!" He sang out as he ran to the kitchen and smiled seeing Ana just pouring hot chocolate into two mugs.

"Okaeri, Akaya-chan. I see you had a good day today," She teased, smiling at him as she handed him the second mug.

"Yes!" Akaya said, bouncing as he carefully sipped at the hot drink. "I made a new friend! He's awesome! I don't want him to ever meet senpai-tachi, though, he's really good at those stupid word game things."

Ana hid a smile behind her own mug as she listened to Akaya happily babble about his day. It was so good to see Akaya's face lit up like that again. He had not quite recovered from her brother leaving, but now it seemed this new boy had helped him in a way that she and the other boys had been unable to manage. She needed to find a way to thank this boy, though Akaya had yet to mention a name to go with all the wonderful things he was babbling. This last thought caused Ana to have to hid a smile again, it was so typical of the boy that the name was unimportant.

"I know you told me not to, but after I told him that I don't play tennis against people, just practice against a wall, because I can't control my temper well, and I can be very violent, and you don't want me to get in trouble for hurting people, and he said that I should play him and then he made me when I tried to say no, so it wasn't totally my fault I broke your rule, right?" Akaya was winding down, and bright red, as he babbled out the last part without taking a breath as if, if he said it fast enough Ana would miss the fact that he had broken a rule.

Ana just arched her eyebrow, "He _made_ you play him?"

"Ok, well, maybe he just asked me and I said yes because I really wanted to play against someone, but we played and I stayed normal the whole time so that's good right?" Akaya said the first part in a rush, again, trying to gloss over his wrong-doing. "I was really focused because he's really, really, nice and I didn't want to hurt him, ever. He explained math to me!"

Ana stifled her laughter and smile as she leveled a stern look at her youngest child. "You're still in trouble for not following my rules, Akaya-chan," he shifted nervously until she smiled at him, "but good job, I'm proud of you!" She hugged him and ruffled his hair. "Now, what's the name of this miracle boy and when do I get to meet him?"

Before Akaya could answer the door opened violently, not the excited violent of Akaya's but an anxious violent, and seven voices called out "Tadaima."

"Okaeri! Hot chocolate is waiting for you in the living room!" Ana called back.

"'Tou-san, I need to talk to you!" Masaharu yelled back.

"Alright, I'll be right there." She turned back to Akaya. "Well?"

"He's name is Ootori Choutarou, he just transferred from Hyotei because Rikkai allows Elementary students to board and Hyotei doesn't let below Middle School board. I'll see if he can come over this weekend." Akaya said.

"That works out well. Your punishment for playing without permission is 50 sit-ups and pushups then 30 laps around the house." She turned him around and shooed him out of the house where their home courts were.

"Hai, 'Tou-san, sorry." He mumbled, slumping down slightly as he went to complete his punishment. He didn't often get punished, and he hated disappointed Ana, so he wouldn't complain about it, even if he did think it was a lot.

Ana smiled at him back, before turning to go into the living room, watching the boys from the doorway quietly for a moment. Bunta was telling Jackal and Hiroshi about a girl they'd just met, it was an interesting meeting if his wild gesturing was any clue. Masaharu was pacing, confused feeling almost visibly radiating off of him, something was bothering badly. Seiichi, Genichirou, and Renji were watching, silently, on the couch, observing everything going on the room. Hiroshi's eyes tracked his partner's pacing even as he listened to Bunta's story, while Jackal gave Bunta his full attention, a slight smile on his face. Ana walked into the room, grabbing everyone's attention as she sat down and pulled Masaharu into her lap in the motion. She chose her favorite armchair, where she could watch everyone, and absently noticed that soon she wouldn't be able to hold any of the boys in her lap, they were getting too big and lanky for her smaller frame.

"So, what happened, Masa-chan? It's only the first day back from break." Ana asked, combing her fingers through his hair and making another mental note about its length.

"We met the leader of the girls today. She knew that Bun and I were brothers even though we haven't said anything at school yet." Masaharu said, slowly relaxing into her.

"She said she was a friend of yours." Bunta added.

Ana frowned in thought, she didn't have many friends in general, let alone ones in the area. "Tell me what you know about her so far."

Renji sat up a bit straighter from where he had been relaxing into the couch since Ana's entrance. His eyes slid half open, allowing a bit of his golden eyes to shine through. "Oshitari Rin, age 12, blood type A, birthday October 15th, Libra, started Rikkai Elementary in grade 5. She moved up, alone, from Osaka, and lived with a care-giver, Fujimiya Aya, until this year when her younger twin brother and parents moved up. Brother is Oshitari Yuushi who recently helped Atobe-san take over the Hyotei Middle School Tennis Club. Both twins are very intelligent, Oshitari Yuushi is also a tennis tensai while she herself is a tensai of martial arts. Her only known associates are the Saitou twins and her second Suzuki Michiko at Rikkai. She has attended a few society events in the place of her parents, and has some associates outside of Rikkai but I couldn't find names, only that they were also associated with the Saitou twins. She can be rather violent, especially in regards to her family name, but she responds to Fujimiya-sensei. Possibly because of his relation to her caregiver, but not proven. Crazy temper, hates being touched, as noted before, reacts violently to her family name, rules the girls with iron control. She missed First Term this year because her aunt in Osaka had poor health so they sent her to care for the woman, returned after her aunt finally passed."

The other boys stared, wide-eyed, at the data collector. Even Seiichi and Genichirou were surprised.

"Renji-kun…" Bunta started, but trailed off when he couldn't think of how to end his thought.

"You're kind of scary." Jackal finished, diplomatically, for his doubles partner.

Hiroshi and Masaharu just nodded in agreement, stunned silent. Masaharu decided his seat on Ana was too close to the golden eyed boy and went to sit on his doubles partner, across the room, instead.

"That was surprisingly thorough, Renji. Why did you gather her data so completely?" Seiichi asked curiously.

"While she is unimportant to our tennis goals, it is always a good idea to keep an eye on the other major players in the school as well. I have data on all the class leaders and the major sport leaders, just in case." Renji explained with a half shrug, then a slightly embarrassed look crossed his face. "I also did it as a challenge; it was not as easy to gather her data as it was the other leaders."

The four doubles players shifted away from the three on the couch, eyes wide again, "Scary…"

Renji coughed, slightly embarrassed. "To get back on topic. There are two more things I'd like to add. I think it is important to note, she and her twin often act like mother and child or at the very least much older sister and younger brother, more so than they act as twins. I do not know the reason. Also, she has moments where she is completely, well spaces out for lack of better explanation. There appears to be no distinct trigger for these mome-oof!" He was cut off suddenly by Akaya, whose entrance had gone unnoticed, collapsing on him tiredly and curling into his lap. "Hello, 'Kaya-chan, where have you been?"

"Punishment stuff for playing without permission. It's cold outside, you're warm." The smaller boy curled himself more tightly and buried his face into Renji's neck causing the older boy to jump.

"Your nose is cold!" He scolded.

"Your neck is warm." Came the muffled response.

Renji decided to ignore the younger boy and turned back to Ana. "As I was saying, there's no trigger, and there seems to be no set time for how long they last. Did you need any more information, Ana-san?"

"No, that's fine, thank you Renji-kun." Ana sat up straighter and looked at the boys. "You all know that while I am a vampire, I am not normal, yes?"

"Yeah, 'Tou-san, you go in the sun and not evil. Why?" Bunta asked.

"The reason is connected to your Rin-chan." She smiled and leaned forward.

* * *

Please review

~Nyx~


	11. Sharing Information pt 2

Hey all,

Ok, so this one is REALLY short, sorry. I will blatantly beg for reviews now. I know people are reading, please just drop me a line and let me know what you think? I appreciate being added to alerts, but I would like reviews a little more :D

~Nyx~

WARNING! This chapter gets a bit into the supernatural. It's not going to a MAJOR thing in the story, but it is there and will be touched on more than once. It is one of the genre things because this is only the beginning. There's a lot of tell in this, I'm sorry it needed to be done. It's short, but the next chapter will be longer. Please review!

* * *

Ana sat up straighter and looked at the boys. "You all know that while I am a vampire, I am not normal, yes?"

"Yeah, 'Tou-san, you go in the sun and not evil. Why?" Bunta asked.

"The reason is connected to your Rin-chan." She smiled and leaned forward. "I'll have to give you some of my history to explain about what I suspect of Rin-chan. Before I was turned I was a very powerful witch."

"Did you kill the dinosaurs?" Masaharu asked, grinning when Ana threw a pillow at him.

"As I was saying. I was a very powerful witch. When I was bitten I only went through half of the transformation. My mortal soul left my body, but before the demon could enter the void left, my magic filled it. The result was a new type of vampire. I need to drink blood to survive, my body is technically dead, and I'm Immortal barring a stake through my heart or my head coming off. My magic protects me from religious artifacts, the sun and acts as my soul. However, my true soul did move on to be reincarnated. I've met my soul a few times, and it sounds like your Rin-chan is one."

"How can you tell?" Seiichi asked, interested with the idea.

"It is a longer story for another time. In short, it is what Renji-kun said about her spacing out that tells me. I am a Past Seer, and an untrained Seer will have those moments of losing him or herself in a vision. All of my reincarnations are Past Seers, and from the sounds of it she is fairly powerful." Ana grinned to herself, "Untrained for now, I can fix that, but I think she'll be close to my level. Invite her over this weekend, I would like to meet her and see if I am correct."

"Hai." Masaharu nodded, relaxing as Ana explained his worries away.

"'Kaya? What's wrong? Are you still cold?" Renji asked worriedly, causing everyone to look over. Akaya seemed to be trying to burrow into Renji. The older boy frowned. "Why are you crying?"

The simple question had Masaharu and Bunta at his side in a second, the other boys a half second behind. As they crowded around the younger boy Ana watched, frowning thoughtfully. She ran back over everything said and done since the young boy had entered the room. Suddenly it hit her. That horrible excuse of a mother had called her baby an evil monster, among other hurtful things. He was not fully recovered, though each day he was improving he wasn't completely past it and now Bunta's, and her own, thoughtless statements about vampires had probably set the Halfling off. As soon as the connection was made she had taken her youngest into her arms and cuddled him fiercely.

"No, no, no, my darling, no. You're a Halfling, not a full vampire, and you have magic protecting you as well. It may be different from mine, but it protects you just as powerfully. You will never turn into a monster. Even if you gave into your darker side, you won't be a monster." Ana reassured him. Another connection formed in her mind. "In fact, if you weren't so worried about your darker instincts, and so scared of them, they'd be easier to control and you could play tennis more seriously."

"Promise?" The boy asked childishly, looking up at her.

"I promise. What's more, I promise that I will always love you, no matter what. I'm sure your brothers feel the same." Ana said sincerely.

"We all feel that way, Aka-chan." Seiichi added in.

Ana let Akaya down from her lap and the other boys crowded around him again to comfort him. The rest of the evening they stayed close together, reassuring and comforting. Ana watched this proudly, they were all so mature for their young ages. Well, about the important things, Ana was aware of the pranks her children loved to play. She didn't need to see the future to know that in the next 5 months they would further grow and blossom. Akaya's new friend would, hopefully, help him fully ground himself as his family couldn't. The twins and Rin-chan would make a nice addition of support for the older boys, especially Masaharu and Bunta. She couldn't wait to see how things changed for all her children, not just the ones she'd legally adopted. Her brother was also, finally, maturing. It had taken almost a millennium, but these things come with time. The only thing that kept everything from being perfect was her mate's absence. He was stuck so far away from her, teaching horrid brats and caught in the midst of something that should have ended already, and could have been prevented to start with. When he finally arrived she promised herself that she would share all that she was keeping hidden. She just wished he would come now, even if it was before she was ready to tell the children.

"'Kaa-san?" Jackal interrupted her thoughts. "Are you ok? You tensed up and started growling."

"I'm fine, 'Kal-kun, thank you." She patted his head absently. "I just thought of something unpleasant, that's all. I'll go get dinner ready and call your parents to see if you can all sleep over." Ana smiled faintly at the children of her heart before retreating to the kitchen. For once, unaware that they had now turned their attention and worry towards her.

"Maybe Rin-san will be able to fix it when they meet." Bunta said half-heartedly, smiling at Akaya. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah, she's old, she probably just thought of something bad from her past. She has a lot of it." Masaharu added.

"Let's go outside and hit some balls around before the sun is completely down." Seiichi suggested, holding out his hand to Akaya and then leading the group outside.

* * *

please review!


	12. Invitations and Alliances

Edits: Sorry all, not a new chapter. I had forgotten some parts I wanted to add and so I just fixed this last chapter. I am working on the next chapter, my life has been a little hectic recently, RL stinks, but reviews will make me write quicker because they're the best cure for partial writers block :D

~Nyx~

Original AN:

Hey all,

I will blatantly beg for reviews now. I know people are reading, please just drop me a line and let me know what you think? I appreciate being added to alerts, but I would like reviews a little more :D Reviews help me be inspired to write.

~Nyx~

The next day the boys left for school in very different moods. The older boys were quiet, each was thinking about what they were going to about Rin and about Ana's spacing out the night before. Akaya, on the other, hand was practically skipping. His happy energy led to him completely ignoring everything as he collapsed next to his new best friend. He smiled and wiggled a little in his seat at the thought. He had a best friend. A friend that was his, and not his brothers', friend first. He didn't have to share him with anyone.

"You're happy today." Ootori smile at him.

"Yeah! 'Tou-san said that I could play against you anytime I want, and if you're there I can challenge people too, and I didn't get into too much trouble for playing with you yesterday, and senpai-tachi are awesome," Akaya grinned mischievously as he babbled without breath about why he was so happy.

Ootori blinked at the rush of words before smiling again once the hyper boy was finished. "I'm meeting my friend from Hyotei today after school. We're going to play a little bit; do you want to join us?"

"Okay." Akaya settled down as class was called to order, and at the reminder that the other boy had friends elsewhere.

The day flew by for Akaya. While he wasn't happy about the reminder that he did, actually, have to share his new friend, he wasn't going to say anything to Ootori. Besides, the new boy might be a challenge too. After all, Ootori had been a good challenge so this unknown should be one too. After school he called Ana for permission, and she reminded him to invite Ootori over, and that if he liked the one he was meeting today he was also invited. Then they were off, walking to a nearby park with a set of hidden courts that were a little overgrown and probably didn't see much use.

"Looks like we got here first. No surprise, as it's closer to Rikkai. Let's hit a ball around to warm up." Ootori suggested.

"Alright, you can serve first, Ootori-kun." Akaya agreed, bouncing over to his side, his happy energy returning.

After each boy kicked the lose rocks and branches clear of their side of the net, they began to hit a light rally. Ootori was asking Akaya about what Rikkai was like, and about the senpai-tachi Akaya was always mentioning. They got so into their conversation they didn't notice when they were joined. The new boy had light brown hair in a bowl cut. He quietly set down his bag and started stretching, just listening to their conversation. Akaya was happily enumerating how amazing all his senpai were, he had already talked about his brothers and the twins, as well as his brothers' doubles partners. Now he was explaining why Yanagi-senpai was psychic and scary, but totally awesome.

"Wait, you know Yanagi Renji?" The new boy interrupted.

The rally stopped as Ootori and Akaya turned, surprised, to see the newcomer.

"Hiyoshi-kun! When did you get here?" Ootori asked, walking over to his friend.

"Just a moment ago." The now named Hiyoshi turned to Akaya. "You know Yanagi Renji?"

"Aa, he's one of the senpai who looked out for me at Rikkai." Akaya nodded. "I'm Kirihara Akaya, 6th grader, Rikkai Elementary School."

"Hiyoshi Wakashi, 6th grader, Hyotei Elementary School." They shook hands. "Do you also know Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou?"

"Hai, they recruited Niou-senpai and Marui-senpai to help them take over the junior high tennis team, and since I'm so close to Niou-senpai and Marui-senpai I got to know them. Yukimura-buchou is scary, but he's so awesome you don't notice it ever. Sanada-fukubuchou is just plain scary though. He's also kinda mean." Akaya explained.

"Why do you call Yukimura-san buchou and Sanada-san fukubuchou? You're not on that team." Hiyoshi asked, confused.

"I will be next year if I can figure out my control. Besides, that's just how they should be addressed. It's just how it is." Akaya explained.

Hiyoshi tilted his head in thought before nodding. "I understand. I have someone like that."

"Who?" Akaya asked, titling his head.

"The First-year captain of Hyotei. His name is Atobe Keigo, and he took over the tennis team nearly single-handedly after transferring in. The only ones who stood a chance of him were a couple of other First-years. Another new transfer was able to play almost equally with him." Hiyoshi said. "When I enter Junior High I'm going to get on that team and I'm going to beat Atobe-buchou and take over."

"I am going to do the same to those three." Akaya agreed. "We should work hard and train together so we can defeat them and become the best in Japan."

"And then we'll play each other and see who is truly the best." Hiyoshi nodded, holding out his hand. "Truce and partnership until then."

"Deal." Akaya shook his hand.

Ootori watched them a little wide-eyed. "I'm glad you two get along." He said faintly, as he shook his head, smiling slightly. He would never understand is hyper-competitive friends.

"Oh, that reminds me, 'Tou-san invited you over, you too Hiyoshi-kun, she wants to meet you. Something about you being a good influence on me or something." Akaya shrugged and Ootori covered a giggle. "On Sunday if you can. We have someone else coming over on Friday or Saturday, so Sunday would be the best."

"I'll talk to my parents." Ootori nodded.

"I'm sure it will be fine. Let's play." Hiyoshi said. "I need to know the level of my future rival."

"Alright, how should we do this?"

As the boys settled down to play, on another set of tennis courts another invitation was being issued. Masaharu and Bunta had asked the Saitou twins and Rin to stay after school so they could talk. The three agreed, and it seemed like it had been expected, and now were watching Yukimura run practice with iron control. Hajime grinned and looked down at the blue haired girl at his side.

"He sounds a little like you, bossing around your little minions." He teased.

She glanced up at him, boredom in every line of her body. She didn't say anything, just arched an eyebrow at him before turning her attention back to the court, examining the boys thoughtfully. The twins tilted their heads, slightly, in unison as they watched her think. Locking eyes for a moment they shrugged and turned back to the practice as well.

"I wonder what they want to talk to us about." Shin remarked.

"Probably about what happened yesterday. What was up with that anyway? Who is Ana?" Hajime's questions were ignored by the girl.

"Maybe she's the teacher that Rin-chan mentioned to Fujimiya-sensei yesterday." Shin guessed, used to Rin ignoring them.

"But how would Masaharu-kun and Bunta-kun know her?"

"And what does she already know about them that we don't?"

"How do you know it's something that we don't know?"

"Well, it must be, otherwise she would have said it straight out, wouldn't she?"

"You don't know that. Maybe she just wanted to be mysterious."

"Or it was the other people listening in."

"It could be that."

"So, what do you think it is?"

"Maybe Ana-san is a super hero and Rin-chan knows her secret identity."

"Or, a super villain, she can be kinda scary sometimes."

"Point. But what would that have to do with Masa and Bunta?"

"Maybe it's a whole family thing."

"Definitely villains then."

"They could be secret agents."

"With Ana-san as their handler?"

"That would make sense."

"Maybe Fujimiya-sensei is Rin-chan's handler."

"And she's going a little out of control."

"So Ana-san has to train her."

"Why would they tell us then?"

"We could just ask her."

"She's ignoring us."

"Correction, I'm trying to ignore you, you both are too loud, annoying and stupid for me to ignore properly." Rin informed them, not taking her eyes from the tennis courts.

The brothers exchanged grins before turning to pout at the girl as they whined in unison, "Rin-chan, don't you love us anymore?"

"No." Rin finally turned to the twins, motioning to the courts. "They're done, we can just ask them why they want to talk."

It didn't take the team long to change back into their uniforms and the group made their way to a ramen shop nearby. They gave their orders and waited quietly while the owner made their food. The boys frequented the shop regularly because the owner was so laid back. When they skipped school to come the shop he never said anything about it to them. Each of them lost in thought until the food arrived.

"It occurs to me that we haven't done formal introductions yet." Seiichi said, smiling slightly. "We all assumed that everyone knew everyone because you've been together in the broadest sense at school."

"It's not just that." Rin corrected, smirking slightly. "I have met most of you formally, the exceptions being Kuwahara-san and yourself, Yukimura-san."

"You have?" Seiichi asked, surprised.

"Aa, as I am the only representative of my family in the Tokyo area I have to go to formal events where the Oshitari family has to at least of a person there." Rin explained, her smirk growing.

The tennis team looked between the smirking Rin, the frowning Genichirou, and the repressed smiles on the faces of the twins, Renji, and Hiroshi.

"When did that happen?" Bunta asked.

"It was little over a year ago at one of the Atobe family summer parties. We were all formally introduced to each other, some Hyotei students in our year, as well as the Atobe heir in preparation on his entry into Hyotei after his elementary years abroad." Hiroshi explained. "Genichirou felt it was inappropriate to call Rin-san, Rin-san."

"We tried to warn him, but he didn't seem to understand that it was not only appropriate, but also important." Shin added in, grinning.

"And Rin-chan didn't have as much self-control as she does today. That party is actually why Fujimiya-sensei started having more of an interest in getting Rin a teacher." Hajime added

"As I was saying, Genichirou referred to her by her family and she took offense. It was only the fact that he is so well trained that the incident was without injury by the time the twins managed to stop her." Hiroshi finished.

"I am sorry about that, Sanada-san." Rin said, still smirking, "I know how important propriety is for you and why you called me my family name. However, it is better just to call me Rin. In any case, Yukimura-san, Kuwahara-san it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Oshitari Rin, please call me Rin."

"It's nice to meet you as well, I've heard so much about you." Seiichi returned.

Jackal just nodded in greeting.

"So, what did you want to talk to us about?" Shin asked, bouncing slightly and unable to hold in his curiosity any longer.

"Well first, 'Tou-san invited you all over after school on Friday." Masaharu said. "She also agreed to train you, Rin-san."

"Good," Rin nodded. "I'll tell sensei I found a teacher, and he can lay off."

"So, what does Rin-chan know about you two that we don't?" Shin wanted to know, ignoring his twin who was covering his eyes with a hand.

"You two already know we're brothers. I assume she didn't say it outright because of the listeners." Bunta smirked at the twins.

"I thought you would have figured that one out on your own." Masaharu added, arching an eyebrow at his friends.

Rin covered a laugh. "They were too busy coming up with conspiracy theories."

"We had valid theories." Hajime defended with a grin.

"I rather like the super villain family one." Seiichi commented.

Both twins went bright red. "You heard us?"

"Yes, you weren't exactly quiet." Renji grinned. "I was fond of the secret agent theory myself."

"The other reason we asked to talk to you was to formally agree to an alliance." Bunta cut in, trying not to laugh at his friends.

"This is quite formal for a Middle School class alliance." The owner of the shop commented, overhearing the last part. They all turned to him and he rubbed his bleached hair in slight embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just that we didn't really have a leader in our class until the end of High School. Nothing formal like you seem to have."

"We're Rikkai. We're organized." Jackal said, grinned slightly.

"It comes from our school environment. This is for the next six years." Hiroshi added with his half smile.

"Plus, it'll make it easier to take over the rest of the school to make sure they don't interfere with us." Renji agreed.

"So, it's agreed then." Rin said, holding out her hand.

"Hai." Seiichi, Hiroshi, Masaharu and Bunta all put their hands on top of hers.

While the boys were out playing tennis after school Ana also went to a tennis practice. She had thought about it and decided to give her brother a hard time instead of letting him off as easily as she had. It would help build his character. With this in mind she made her way to Seigaku's practice courts. As she watched she heard some of the boys wondering who she was, until Kunimitsu finally noticed her. He paled a little before walking over.

"Ana, what are you doing here?" He asked quietly.

"Hello nephew," She smiled at him, "I wanted to meet your friends you were telling me about and to talk with your captain briefly. Something came to mind I thought he should be aware of."

"Kunimitsu-kun, who is this?" An older boy walked over. He had round sunglasses and a green bandana around his forehead.

"Yamato-buchou, this is my aunt, Sylvain Ana, she wanted to talk to you." Kunimitsu bowed to his captain as he introduced them.

"Yamato-san, Kunimitsu-kun has told me a lot about you. Thank you for taking care of him. I hope you continue to do so well with him. He may be a very intelligent and studious boy but he sometimes will give up a sport, or anything really, if it becomes a little too confrontational. I'm sure you can help him with that, in tennis at least, I'm sure the rest will follow later." Ana smiled brightly at the boy, ignoring her brother's pink cheeks. "I also came to inform you to be careful at your matches."

"Careful?" Yamato looked slightly confused.

"Hai, Kunimitsu's cousins, my sons, have a problem with him. While I don't think any of them will outright attack him physically, they may try something to harm him in other ways. My youngest is making friends at Hyotei, who I believe you will also face and they may cause problems too, thinking that because Kunimitsu is not a regular it's ok." Ana explained, never losing her smile.

"Thank you for the warning." Yamato still looked slightly confused, but was smiling back. "Was there anything else you wanted, Sylvain-san?"

"One more thing. Where's Oishi-san? Kunimitsu mentioned that he also helped him to remain on the team and I would like to thank him as well. It seems like I've been trying for a thousand years to get Kunimitsu to stop quitting when things get a little tough and you two managed it so quickly. I am truly grateful" Ana looked around the court.

"He's not here today. I believe that a newer member, Kikumaru-kun, took him somewhere to play another match." Yamato shrugged.

"Well, you have my thanks. I must be getting home, the children will be home soon and I have to cook dinner. It's been so difficult since my partner left me to raise them on my own, being a single mother is never easy, but with three official boys and the number of unofficial ones growing daily it seems even harder. Not that I would trade it, or them for the world." Ana bowed to the captain and nodded to her brother before turning to leave. As she walked away she couldn't contain her smirk at her brother's face during the whole conversation.

"You're aunt is a little strange." Yamato remarked to Kunimitsu. "What did she mean about your cousins wanting to harm you?

"Aa, but she's very kind. She took me in after my parents passed, even though she already was taking care of three boys. I moved in with my grandparents this year to help them and my cousins felt like I abandoned them and since the youngest has some problems with that, the two older boys will be out for revenge." Kunimitsu said, not meeting his captain's eyes. "I'm sorry to cause trouble."

Ana couldn't hear the reply as she went out of earshot. She smiled to herself all the way home. She'd managed to integrate herself a little into her brother's current life as well as making statements so he might start to understand that his actions have consequences. Not every problem had a simple solution. He was no longer the son of a rich lord, something he had yet to accept, but was finally starting to.


End file.
